Violet Eyed Angel
by xZig-zagx
Summary: It’s been ten years since Kenshin and Neko separated. Ten years can change a person in more ways then one. Can Neko accept the changes in her angel? What kind of changes has she made? What ever happened to Hiroko? Traditional Pairings COMPLETE
1. –:The Cat Came Back:–

A/n: Hello! To all my wonderful who made their way here from Amber Eyed Angel. This is indeed the long….uh, short awaited sequel to Amber Eyed Angel. I hope I didn't take that long to get this out. For all of you new to this story, you may want to read Amber Eyed Angel first. Although I will try to explain things a bit so you won't be too confused if you read this and not Amber Eyed Angel. One last thing! The title of this story will be changed to Violet Eyed Angel when I update the next chapter! Nekotsuki is once again my lovely beta who without her help this story would be crap.

Reviewers from Amber Eyed Angel!

**Terry-McElrath -** Glad you enjoyed Amber Eyed Angel's ending! Hope you enjoy this new story just as much.

**Nekotsuki -** In your review you could have said, stealing. I'm sure no one would have understood anyway. -grins-

**animeinsomniac -** Glad you liked how I ending Amber Eyed Angel. All your praise made my face go red! Thank you so much!

**Streetwise Girl -** I would answer your questions about the sequel… but what fun would that be?! -smiles- You'll have to read and find out!!

**Ms. Zeal -** To tell the truth, before I even thought of this sequel I had always planned on letting Hiroko go. I was never planning on killing him or revenge of any sorts. So it wasn't that I was delaying the revenge, it was there was none planned.

**Me, random person of doom -** Still sounds like a great dream!

**lolo popoki -** Hope you like the sequel as much as the first!

**AekaAnime -** I'm overjoyed to hear you loved the ending!

**Dragonspirit4215 -** Thanks for saying I have a way with words! That means a lot to me!

**Shaolin 10 -** Here it is at last! The sequel!

**Saitouu Ryuuji -** Saitou will be in this fic.

**Shadow Wolves-** Wow!!! Glad you liked Amber Eyed Angel so much!

**Kenshin'sorrow -** Actually, Vash didn't kill a lot of people. He only killed one (not saying who, I don't want to spoil anything). They even say in that city he destroyed, July right?, that no one was killed, only everything was destroyed. The idea of Kenshin and Vash being similar is very true! That could be the reason Trigun and Kenshin are my two FAVORITE animes!

**tsumesgirl05 -** Thanks for reading Amber Eyed Angel.

* * *

Chapter 1 - The Cat Came Back

The day grew colder as the sun set, as darkness crept ever so slowly over the world. It soon settled over the land and all was quiet. The city people had long since gone to bed, the streets were empty. The forest just outside of it was as still as the city, not a single sound disrupted the silence. Even the creatures of the night were quiet.

The surreal quiet was not lost on a young girl's ears. She lived just outside the city; she often visited this forest and now here she was, arms full of firewood, listening for the nightly noise. There was none.

"_Please_! Don't!"

The young girl dropped the wood in her arms; it clattered noisily to the ground. The desperate shout echoed throughout the dead forest.

"You're begging!" another voice yelled back in an angry hiss. "Why are you begging? Are you pleading for your life?! **_Did he beg too?_** I **_don't_** think so." This voice was very upset; it frightened the young girl. This voice sounded almost like an animal.

"**_Please! _**I _don't _want to die! _I don't wanna die!"_

"**Don't beg!**"

A loud gunshot filled the forest and caused the young girl to shriek. She stood, trembling, her breath uneven. She listened for any other sound, but heard nothing. The silence was slowly engulfing the small child; it soon became suffocating. Grabbing a few of the dropped logs so her father wouldn't be cross with her, she sprinted towards her house. Once home she ran straight to her room, to hide, and to never speak of what she had heard. She covered her head with her hands, "Please," she begged, "Protect me."

And time moves on…

The sun was high in the afternoon sky, beating down on the crowd in the market place. The busy bustle of people moving about made it seem hotter than it really was. One man noted the heat with mild annoyance, shuffling the heavy bundle he was carrying so he could wipe a hand across his brow, which had started to collect small beads of sweat. As he wiped his forehead, his scarlet bangs waved back and forth with the movement.

"Kaoru-dono, are we almost finished?" he asked in an almost pleading voice.

His companion turned and smiled at him. "We're almost done, Kenshin. We just need to pick up a couple more things," she said as she turned and practically skipped to the next vendor.

Kenshin grinned and gave a weak laugh. "But do you have to buy it all at once?" he mumbled after her. He watched as Kaoru haggled with the merchant, promptly handing Kenshin yet another bundle to carry.

"Oh!! Look over there! Some daikon! We could use some more some more of that!" She ran off to the next stand with Kenshin following behind her with a happy sigh, doing his best not to drop anything.

He watched Kaoru as she looked over the radishes; he couldn't help but smile as he did so. After everything that had happened with Enishi, it was nice to see things had finally settled down, and everything seemed to be back to normal. Although, nothing could _really_ go back to the way it was.

Now it seemed even better.

She had told him the first time they met: _I don't care about your past._ Now, after all that had happened, she still really meant that. After he had told her about Tomoe, after she was kidnapped by Enishi, after all that she still wanted to be with him.

So here he was, still in Tokyo, with people who really cared about him, shopping with the one who cared about him most. He quickened his pace, trying to catch up to her.

They weren't the only ones shopping that day. A young woman stood in the street looking down at the paper in her hand. She wore a light green, western-style dress and her black hair fell gracefully around her shoulders, not tied back by anything. "Let's see, I still need to pick up some…" She checked her list once more. "Daikon radishes." She made her way towards the vendor, but her step was a bit off. She leaned slightly to the left as she rested her weight against the cane in her hand, with the bag of groceries she had already bought banging back and forth against her leg as she walked.

"Kenshin! Hurry up!" The woman's head snapped up as she looked towards the call.

"Kenshin?" she repeated, scanning the crowd.

"Sessha is coming!" A yell came to answer the voice that had called out.

The woman's shoulders slumped slightly. "Sessha?" she repeated sadly. "That's not something he would say." She continued towards the vendor sadly, when a flash of red caught her eye. Once more her head snapped up. Her breath came faster and faster as she looked again, trying to find the source of the red. She had seen flashes of red before, but they always turned out to be a flag or someone's clothing. Finally she found the red; it was someone's hair.

Her heart stopped; she felt her hands lose their grip on the bag she had been carrying. It crashed to the ground as she tried to breathe, watching the man with red hair try to make his way through the crowd without dropping any of the many bags and packages he was carrying. Finally, something snapped in the woman and she moved as fast as she could towards the man.

Kenshin stopped. It felt like someone was watching him. Although they didn't feel threatening in any way, he was trying to figure out who was watching him when a burst of energy ran through his senses. "KENSHIN!" a feminine voice called out. Before he even had time to turn around to see who had called him, a woman crashed into him, pulling him into a hug.

"Oro!" he cried, as he began to tip from the sudden force and the awkward way he was carrying the bundles. He tipped backwards until he, the strange woman hugging him, and Kaoru's groceries fell to the ground with a loud thud.

A few people passing by stopped and stared at the two people lying on the ground, then moved on. Kaoru turned to see what the noise was, and was surprised to see Kenshin sprawled on the ground, his eyes spinning, with some strange girl in western clothes on top of him. "Kenshin!" she shrieked. "What are you doing?! Who is she!?" Kaoru wanted answers and she wanted them now.

Kenshin got a hold of himself and sat up. "I don't know who she is," he said, stunned. He certainly didn't remember any girls from the west, although she did look somewhat familiar.

"I found you! I finally found you!" the woman cried happily, burying her head in Kenshin's chest.

"Kenshin!" Kaoru yelped, infuriated by what she was seeing.

"I found you! My angel! At last!"

Kenshin's blood ran cold for a moment. He looked down at the woman's side and saw a cane lying in the dirt. 'It couldn't be!' he thought, grabbing the woman's shoulders and pulling her back so he could get a good look at her eyes. Emerald green eyes locked with violet ones and the two studied each other carefully. Kenshin recognized those cat-like eyes right away. 'Neko…' He just couldn't believe it.

Suddenly the woman blinked a few times and backed away. "I'm sorry!" she said hastily. "I thought you were someone else!" She looked completely embarrassed as she reached over and picked up her cane. She studied Kenshin carefully. "You look so much like him, but your eyes…" She trailed off, her eyes getting a far away look to them, as if dreaming about the past.

"Neko, it's me," Kenshin said quickly.

Hearing her name startled her. "It's…it's really you then! Kenshin! It's really you!?"

Kenshin couldn't help but smile at the girl in front of him. "Hai."

"KENSHIN!" Neko yelled, throwing herself on top of him again. "It's really you!"

"What's going on!?" Kaoru yelled, completely confused over what was going on between her Kenshin and this strange woman.

"Kaoru-dono…" Kenshin trailed off as he picked himself off the ground, then helped Neko to her feet. "Neko, this is Kamiya Kaoru." Neko smiled sweetly at Kaoru, and gave a slight bow of her head in greeting. "Kaoru-dono, this is Mid-"

"I'm Neko!" she interrupted, extending her hand to Kaoru.

Slowly Kaoru extended her hand and took Neko's. "So, you know Kenshin?" she asked awkwardly.

"Why, yes!" Neko smiled happily. "When I was little, he saved my life, and then he took care of me for almost a year after my parents died."

Kaoru stepped back a little in surprise. "You lived with him for that long!?"

"Iie," she replied sadly, her eyes falling to the ground. "For a few months of that time I lived with someone else."

"Ah, what brings you to the market, Neko?" Kenshin asked quickly, trying to change the subject.

"Oh, I was just picking up a- MY BAG!" Neko turned to find her dropped bag. "Excuse me! I'll be right back." As Neko retrieved her bag, Kenshin and Kaoru started to pick up their dropped items.

"Kenshin, why didn't you ever tell me about Neko?" Kaoru asked.

"It's been a long time since sessha has seen Neko. Sessha just didn't think you would ever need to know about Neko." He picked up another bag. It had been a long time; ten long years. He and Kaoru had just finished gathering their things when Neko came back.

A bright smile was on the young woman's face as she walked towards them. 'I wonder how old she is,' Kaoru found herself thinking, as Neko chatted quite happily to Kenshin about some of the things she had bought. 'She can't be much younger than I am. How old was she when she met Kenshin?'

"How long have you been in Tokyo?!" Neko's excited voice broke through Kaoru's thoughts.

"Ah," Kenshin rubbed the back of his head as he thought. He smiled sweetly when he came up with the answer. "About a year."

"Wow! A whole year?! I should have come here sooner!"

"You don't live in Tokyo?" Kaoru asked hopefully.

Neko shook her head. "Iie, visiting." Kaoru couldn't help but feel a little bit happier, knowing Neko wasn't going to be staying in Tokyo forever.

"Where are you staying?" Kenshin asked.

"In a hotel in the western section of town," Neko enthusiastically answered.

"You're into western culture?" Kaoru asked, eyeing the dress Neko wore.

"Hai, very much! I see a lot of business men from the west. I couldn't help but fall in love with their culture! This dress lets me be so much more mobile than a kimono. You should come by my hotel and see the beds!" she exclaimed. "They're a lot different from futons!"

"That would be nice. Sessha has heard that they sit off the floor."

"They do! And they are so soft and comfortable!"

"I have an idea. Why don't you come to the dojo and have some lunch with us?" Kaoru interrupted.

Neko blushed slightly. "I don't want to be a bother."

"It's no bother. You're a friend of Kenshin's!" Kaoru said happily. "Besides, this way you could meet Yahiko and Sanosuke. They're our friends, although they're a bit strange," she admitted. "Don't you think it's a good idea, Kenshin?" He agreed with a smile and a nod of his head.

Neko's grin widened. "Sure, I would love to see Kenshin's dojo! I'm surprise he got one started in under a year!"

"Oro?!"

Kaoru nearly fell over. "No! It's my dojo! The Kamiya Kasshin-Ryu dojo!"

"Sessha just lives with Kaoru-dono," Kenshin said, with a weak laugh.

"Oh, I'm just surprised to hear that a woman runs a dojo." Neko bowed to Kaoru. "Gomen! I did not mean to be rude!"

Kaoru laughed slightly. "No, no, don't worry about it. I didn't tell you it was my dojo, you just assumed, no harm done." This was a friend of Kenshin's. Kaoru didn't want to scare her away. Even if she was prettier and about the same age as herself, any friend of Kenshin's was welcome in her dojo.

* * *

A/N: Yes, a short chapter. Forgive me… but, hey! It's an update! Just reinforcing this. THE NAME IS CHANGING TO VIOLET EYED ANGEL THE NEXT UPDATE.


	2. –:Meetings:–

A/N: Holy crap… is Violet Eyed Angel really being updated? Wow, miracles really do happen. Well Amber Eyed Angel is FINALLY reposted for the third time. I really ran into a lot of snags getting it back up. But it's back up and life can move on. I've found this story to be a lot harder to write than Amber Eyed Angel was… I shall do my best to bring all of you who have been waiting a good story. That is… if you're still around.

REVIEWERS! Rejoice! And update!

**aznpuffyhair** - Saito let Kenshin go that time behind the desk to kind of repay him for what Hiroko did. Hiroko broke a lot of rules to get Kenshin so it was a repayment of sorts.

**anime-luney** - Sorry for making you wait!

**Hitokiri Musei** - Yay for updates!

**jhjhj** - Well, if you're still around, both stories have now been updated!

**Me, Random Person of Doom** - Sorry, no two chapters posted together. Been too busy.

**Chibi Binasu-chan** - My goal is to make Neko anything BUT a brat

**Shadow Wolf of the Blue Moon** - Hope you enjoy the update!

**Melimsah **- Misao attacked Kenshin when they first met, but she never really wanted to kill him.

**lolo popoki** - Yay for getting my act together and updating!

**psychogurl **- Now that the sequel is up I hope you come back to read it!

**Kenshin'sorrow** - Hope you're still out there! I've missed your reviews!

**animeinsomniac **- Glad you liked the one shot!

**tsumesgirl05** - I'm baaaaaack!

**Streetwise Girl** - Hope you like this fic!

* * *

Chapter 2 - Meetings

Sanosuke was on his way to the dojo, looking for lunch. He arrived at the gates just as the trio was walking up. "Oi, Kenshin! Jo-chan!" he called out in greeting. "Who's the girl?" he asked when his eyes fell on the green eyed woman dressed in a strange western outfit walking with them.

"Sano!" Kaoru half growled. "Don't you have any manners?" She turned towards Neko. "Neko, this is Sagara Sanosuke."

Neko took a step forward and bowed towards Sano. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Sagara-san. I'm Neko."

"Call me Sano. When you say it like that, you make me feel old."

Neko stood up again, a bright smile on her face. "Alright, then, Sano."

"Neko is a friend of Kenshin's," Kaoru continued to explain to the ex-gangster.

"One of Kenshin's friends?" A wide, goofy smile spread across Sano's face. "So that means you're here to kill him. Or, you were once in love with him!"

As Kaoru fumed over that last comment, Neko turned a bright red. "Kill him?" She turned an even darker shade of red as she looked over at Kenshin with an innocent smile.

"Iya!" Kenshin said, a bit louder than he meant to. "Neko is just a friend of sessha's."

"Just a friend, eh?"

Neko blushed even more as Kaoru gave Sano a rather large bruise on his head with the bag she had in her hand.

"Oh, my!" Neko exclaimed, a hand rising to her mouth. "So violent!" She could hear Kenshin chuckling behind her, finding Neko's reaction to the common occurrence humorous. She turned, staring at him awkwardly. "Is this…" She motioned with her hand towards Sano, who was now rubbing his head, and Kaoru who was busy lecturing him. "…Normal?"

"Well…" Kenshin trailed off, opting to give a slight shrug of his shoulders and a meek laugh.

"What's that supposed to mean, Kenshin!" Kaoru yelled, spinning around, turning her anger onto the innocent redhead.

Kenshin attempted to raise his hands in defense, but his arms were too full. "Maa… maa…" he stammered. Neko looked at Kenshin, studying him as Kaoru continued to yell.

All the ruckus coming from outside the gate gained Yahiko's attention as he walked out to the sight of Kaoru advancing on Kenshin, Sano rubbing his head grumpily, and a strange, confused woman watching everything. His eyes widened as they took everything in.

"What's going on out here?" he called, ending the noise of Kenshin's pathetic excuses, Kaoru's yelling, and Sano's grumbling.

"Oh! Yahiko!" Kaoru completely forgot what she had been so angry about at the entrance of her student. She motioned to Neko. "This is Neko, she's a friend of Kenshin's." She turned to Neko and motioned to Yahiko. "Neko, this is Myojin Yahiko. My student."

"How… how do you do?" Neko bowed, stunned by how easily everything had just been diffused. "Nic-nice to meet you!"

Yahiko blinked at her for a few moments, and then returned the bow. "You too."

"Nice to see _someone_ has manners," Kaoru mentioned, with a glare to Sano.

"What's that supposed to-"

Kaoru interrupted him. "I invited her to have lunch with us! Are Misao and Aoshi around? I want them to meet Neko too."

Yahiko gave a slight, uncaring shrug of his shoulders. "Misao is around somewhere… Aoshi took off."

Kaoru closed her eyes a moment in thought, then opened them again. "Yahiko, I want you to help Kenshin with the groceries while I give Neko a tour of the dojo and introduce her to Misao."

"Why do I have-" Yahiko started to complain until he saw the death glare Kaoru shot him. "Fine." As he moved to help Kenshin carry some of the items he held, Kaoru took Neko's arm and led her into the dojo's yard.

Neko got a full tour of the dojo. She was quite impressed with it. She hadn't been in a dojo before and nearly everything impressed her. During the tour, they found Misao sitting out on the porch.

She jumped to her feet happily and ran up to the two of them. "Kaoru-san! Have you seen Aoshi-sama!" she asked excitedly.

"Iie. I haven't seen him all day."

"Aoshi-sama!" Misao cried, practically falling to her knees. "When will you come back?"

Kaoru cleared her throat, trying to draw Misao's attention. Neko could only stare at what was happening before her. This new girl had just been so happy, and now she was in tears. Neko didn't think she had ever seen such a drastic change in emotion before. "Misao-chan. This is Neko, she's a friend of Kenshin's."

Misao brightened. "Ah! Hello Neko!" she said with a large smile and a bow. "I'm Makimachi Misao! It's a pleasure to meet you! You're a friend of Kenshin's? For how long?"

Neko was a little overwhelmed. This girl had gone from cheerful, to a sobbing mess, to cheerful again. "Nice to meet you, Misao-san," she said, returning the bow. "Um… I haven't seen Kenshin in a long time, but I was a really little girl when we met."

Neko was saved from more questioning from Misao as Kenshin came out and announced that lunch was ready. Neko was looking forward to a nice, calm meal with Kenshin's friends. It was anything _but_ calm.

"SANO!" Yahiko yelled, shoving more food into his mouth. "That's MY rice ball!"

Sano quickly gulped down said rice ball. "No it isn't. It's mine now!"

"Yahiko!" Kaoru snapped. "Don't speak with your mouth full!"

"Shut up busu! He took MY rice ball!"

"No I didn't!"

Neko looked on, almost too stunned once more to eat. "Oh my…" Once more, she was speechless. She looked over to Kenshin and watched as he ate his meal with a pleasant smile on his face. 'It's like the noise doesn't even affect him.' She watched him a bit. 'This is a lot different from the other meals we've shared before.' She smiled at the memory of eating with Kenshin, way back when. 'Then the only noise was the murmur of men and Reizo's occasional joke.'

Kenshin felt Neko's eyes watching him. He stopped eating and set his dish down. "Is there something wrong, Neko?" he asked with a smile.

Neko blinked, dumbfounded. 'A smile, it's sweet, but…' She shook her head free of thoughts. "Nothing, just thinking about some of the meals we once shared," she answered honestly.

Yahiko gulped down another mouthful. "You used to know Kenshin. How did you guys met anyway?"

Neko's eyes widened a bit before she quickly bowed her head and sat her bowl down. "Yahiko!" Kaoru hissed at him.

"What? What'd I say!"

Just as Kaoru was about to chastise Yahiko again, Neko spoke up. "No, that's all right." She looked up at the group with a forced smile. "It's understandable that he would want to know."

"Neko." Kenshin couldn't find the right words to say.

"It's all right. It happened over ten years ago. I can tell them." She took a deep breath and as she released the held air, she shuddered slightly. "When I was a little girl, my father supported the Ishin Shishi. While traveling through Kyoto one night…" Neko stopped a moment to quell her trembling voice. "…both my parents were murdered."

Everyone who was listening quickly moved their eyes off Neko. Sano looked to the ceiling. Misao was looking intently into her empty bowl. Yahiko and Kaoru both looked to the side. Kenshin sat, staring straight ahead, lost in thought as he had been before Neko began. She wet her lips with her tongue and continued. "I don't know why their killers didn't kill me, but I went to find help and… and…" She was having trouble finder her voice again.

"Met Kenshin?" Kaoru guessed.

Neko looked up, tears running down her face, but she was smiling. "Yes. That's when I met Kenshin. He helped me… with my parents… then took care of me afterwards." Neko took a calming breath. "That's just about everything." Kenshin watched Neko carefully; that certainly wasn't everything, it didn't even come close, but he wasn't about to say anything. What they had been through together didn't need to be spoken of to others.

"Really? That's it?" Misao asked, skeptical. "And here I thought we would get to hear a story with some action."

Neko laughed softly. "I'm sorry, Misao-san. Although sometimes a story about _real life_ is a better one when it lacks action."

Misao blushed; she understood what Neko meant. If there was action, that would have meant trouble for Neko and Kenshin. "Gomen, Neko-san! I didn't mean it like that!"

"But-" Kaoru said softy, still not meeting Neko's eyes. "You told me that for a little while you lived with someone else besides Kenshin."

Neko went very still. It didn't even look like she was breathing. "Aa, I said that. For a while, I lived with a rude man who drank a lot." She paused, choosing her words carefully. "I didn't care for the time I spent in his presence so I don't like talking about it. I hope you don't find that rude," she apologized, without really feeling apologetic.

"Iie. That's all right. I understand," Kaoru uttered softly, taking another bite of the fish Kenshin had prepared.

An uncomfortable silence descended upon the once noisy room. Everyone felt it and no one knew how to break it. Neko felt it more than the others, feeling as though she had caused it. She smiled. "One time, when Kenshin was taking care of me, it started to rain." Neko smiled in advance to the story she was about to tell.

Kenshin's eyes widened and his mouth hung open, the food he was just about to eat fell from his chopstick, back into his bowl.

"What's so special about rain?" Sano commented, leaning back and nibbling slightly on a large toothpick.

"Nothing really, except it makes lovely mud," Neko said slyly, giving Kenshin a torturous grin. His eyes pleaded with her not to go on, but she ignored him. "Yes, it was raining so hard you couldn't go outside without stepping in mud. I've always loved the rain, so I was outside when Kenshin found me. He went outside to bring me back in when he slipped."

Misao began to giggle. "He fell in the mud?"

Neko's smile widened as she watched Kenshin turn red. "Oh yes, he fell with a nice squish! We ended up getting COVERED in mud!" She began to laugh. "He was dripping in mud when we finally got back inside."

Soon everyone was laughing as Neko continued. Even Kenshin lost some of his blush and began laughing at the happy memory. The meal continued in an otherwise comfortable mood. Neko found herself taking a liking to Kenshin's friends and they felt the same about her. She was sweet and very polite.

After the food had been long devoured, Kenshin cleared the table. Neko sat with Kaoru and Misao and had a bit of girl talk.

"So Neko, how old are you?" Misao asked, looking her up and down trying to get take a guess.

Neko smiled sweetly. "I just turned seventeen a few weeks ago."

"That means you're only a year older than me!" She couldn't help it; Misao found herself growing envious of Neko's chest.

Neko blushed brightly when she caught Misao staring, but was saved from responding when Kenshin came out wiping soap off his hand with a rag. "The dishes have been cleaned and put away, Kaoru-dono," he announced with a smile.

Neko bounced to her feet. "So you're free for a bit? Do you… I mean, could you and I talk for a bit. It's just, it's been so long." She was a bit nervous, she had wanted to get Kenshin alone but now she felt like she was getting in the way.

Kenshin simply smiled and nodded his head, waiting for her to speak. She bit her lip, she didn't want to talk in front of Kaoru and Misao, not that she was uncomfortable around them. She just wanted a little time alone with her angel. "I saw a river earlier today, do you think we could talk over there?" she suggested, hinting at the fact she wanted to talk alone.

Kenshin understood Neko's nervousness right away. "Of course we can, it's this way." He stepped down off the porch. "We'll be back in a bit, that we will," he said, still smiling, to Kaoru and Misao as he lead the way to the river.

Kaoru watched the two of them leave, her heart feeling a little heavy watching Kenshin walk off alone with Neko, but she knew Kenshin to be loyal to her. They were just going to talk. She turned back to Misao and picked up the conversation.

* * *

The trip to the river was quiet. Neko fiddled with the sleeves of her dress as they made their way there. She didn't know why she felt so nervous; in all the scenarios she had played out in her mind of when she would find her angel, she had never guessed she would be nervous. Something just wasn't right with him. With a deep breath she finally spoke when the river was in sight. "Kenshin, you're different. You've changed." She decided to be blunt.

Kenshin stopped and blinked with wide eyes at her. "Oro?"

"See! That's what I mean!" She lowered her voice. "You never used to act like that." Her eyes met the ground. "You smile a lot more."

"Is there something wrong with smiling?" He seemed confused. Neko didn't like it. The angel she pictured would have never looked confused.

"Iya, there's nothing wrong with smiling. It's just different."

He put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "It's been a long time. I've changed Neko."

"A long time," she repeated softly. She stood there a moment. Kenshin could feel her shoulder start to shake under his hand. "Why? Why Kenshin? Why did you leave me like that?"

His throat tightened, he knew that question had been coming. He took a moment to collect himself before answering. "It was the best thing for me to do at the time. If I hadn't disappeared like I had you would have never let me go."

She was quiet, trying to hold back the tears that were silently running down her face. She knew he was right; she would have never let him go. Wiping away a tear and reaching into her purse she took out a piece of paper that looked like it had been folded and unfolded many times before. It was old and frail. She opened it carefully, like it was a dear and important document. When it was opened she held it out for Kenshin to read.

His eyes darted over the faded ink, his eyes growing wider with each word read. "Neko, this is-"

"The letter you left me."

"You kept it after all this time?" She nodded and they were both quiet. "I'm sorry Neko. I was doing what was best for you. It was too dangero-"

"What was best for me was not to be abandoned!" she shouted. Kenshin could tell easily by the sound of her voice that she wasn't angry. Just hurt and betrayed.

"I'm sorry. You didn't like staying with the Shimooki's?"

"Iya! They were nice. They were good to me, it's just…" She trailed off, staring into the river. "What I wanted was to be with you."

"But what you wanted wasn't safe. I'm sorry for-"

"Stop saying you're sorry!" She hadn't meant to snap at him. "You don't have to be sorry! You did what was right. Why are you- What I mean is-" She didn't know what she meant. Kenshin stared at her, waiting for her to finish. "Oh Kenshin," she finally cried. "I've missed you!" She fell against him, sobbing into his shoulder.

Kenshin was stunned a moment, and then put his arms around her. "It's all right Neko, I've missed you too." It was the truth. He had missed the little child who had looked up to him, who had loved him. He rubbed her back like he would have done to comfort her when she was little, only she wasn't little anymore. She had grown up and it was no longer all right to hold her so.

He didn't hold her so tightly; it was hard to remember she wasn't little anymore. She couldn't sit in his lap anymore and he couldn't rock her. There were many things they couldn't do anymore, but he could still comfort her.

Neko's knees gave out as she began to cry harder. Carefully he helped her to the grassy bank so she could sit down. She clung to him, never letting him go as they sat together. She inhaled deeply, remembering his scent. It felt so good to be back in his arms. Without thinking she tried to move into his lap like she would have when she was seven.

"Iya," Kenshin's voice stopped her. "You're too big for sessha's lap now, that you are."

"Don't talk like that," was her stubborn replay.

"Oro?"

"You are a proud man and better than most. I don't want to hear you call yourself unworthy." She leaned quietly against his shoulders.

They sat quietly together with Neko's head on Kenshin's shoulder. Neither thought much about how intimate the position looked. It was too natural for them, and as Neko closed her eyes she could see the inn they had stayed at behind her eyelids, she could almost feel the porch beneath them, and she felt as if she was back in time. Back when Kenshin was her angel.

Kenshin walked Neko most of the way to the inn she was staying at. Before parting she wrapped her arms around his chest. "You don't know how much seeing you again means to me," she said quietly, holding him tightly in a hug. "Would it be all right if I visited again tomorrow?"

Kenshin replied with a simple 'aa' and Neko looked up and smiled at him. She tightened her hug for a moment, then let go. She waved goodbye and headed home.

* * *

Kaoru was waiting for Kenshin at the gate when he returned just after dark. "Kaoru-dono, you didn't have to wait for sessha." Although he said this, he was glad she did.

She returned his smile. "That's all right. Did everything go well with Neko?" She entered the gate first, holding it open for Kenshin.

"Aa, everything went just fine. It was a surprise to see her, that it was." Kenshin was quiet as they made their way to the house. He laughed sheepishly, remembering he had invited Neko over tomorrow and had never gotten Kaoru's permission first. "Ah, Kaoru-dono?" He laughed again. "I invited Neko over again tomorrow. I hope that's not a problem."

Kaoru smiled, it was so like Kenshin. Of course she wouldn't have a problem with him having an old friend over, yet he was worried she would. Still, she gave a playful frown. "Now who do you think pays to keep this place running? I should have a say who comes to _my_ property for a visit. But, seeing how she's your friend I guess I won't mind _too_ much."

The small laugh she was greeted with was, to her, one of the most beautiful sounds on earth. She felt a small blush creep across her cheeks as Kenshin took her hand in his. "Arigato, Kaoru."

A/N: Oh! And for anyone wondering the one shot that use to be here will be reposted as it's own story A.S.A.P.


	3. –:Neko’s Companion:–

A/N: Yay for chapter 3! And some of you told me in my fic Idle Chitchat that you couldn't review the last chapter, it's because you reviewed chapter two when I had the filler up. That's why you couldn't review, it thought you already reviewed once.

REVIEWERS! (And those who reviewed to Idle Chitchat)

**omasuoniwabanshi** - Mean old bratty people. What we ever do to them?

**enchantedsleeper **- Glad you liked Idle Chitchat!

**skenshingumi **- No, it's more like 95 of the fanfics about Kenshin are: Hi Kenshin! I'm a Mary Sue long lost sister/lover who's way better at swords than you. Forget about Kaoru and marry me! There, I've just given away the plot for nearly every single fic on this site. Oh. And lets not forget the setting! HIGHSCHOOL! And for added kicks! They're all vampires!

**Terry-McElrath** - Yay for torture!

**lolo popoki** - You should be able to review this time.

**Hitokiri Musei** - Glad you liked chapter 2!

**Kokari **- Sorry for the long wait! Unless I get a major writer's block (unlikely) I shouldn't take so long when it comes to updating.

**Shauntell **- I don't want to sound rude, but everything you said you'd like to see happen won't be happening it's just too… cliché. And fear not! For as you probably saw, my summary said traditional pairings! And it shall stay that way!

**AuburnMoonlight **- We shall see, Neko's changed quite a lot.

**Kenshin'sorrow **- Glad to see you're still around. I must admit, I thought I lost all my readers taking so long to update.

**aznpuffyhair **- I thought I answered this already… but I forgot if I did or not, but you had important question so I'd better answer them again in case I haven't done so already. Saito let Kenshin go when he was hiding behind the desk because Hiroko had broken a lot of Shinsengumi's rules. It was just his way to pay Kenshin back for the underhanded way Hiroko used to get him. A way of restoring the Shinsengumi's name sort to speak. Also, Neko's leg did heal, but it didn't heal correctly. That's why she's still limping around. They didn't have the medical advances back then to fix an injury like the one she had.

* * *

Chapter 3 - Neko's Companion

Neko was over bright and early the next day. She brought with her a small basket with a blanket over it. Yahiko was training with Kaoru when she stopped by, so she chatted with Kenshin, rebuilding their friendship.

"So what have you been up to all these years?" Neko asked as they sat side by side on the porch, idly watching as Yahiko and Kaoru trained outside.

"Not much. After the war I wandered from place to place." He smiled; it actually felt good to say that in the past tense. He shut his eyes as he remembered Kaoru standing there, hand opened to him, a smile on her face as she said something Kenshin thought he'd never hear and feel so good hearing it. 'Welcome home.'

She smiled back. "No wonder it was so hard to find you. You've must have been all over the place, seeing so many people."

Kenshin nodded, thinking briefly over the people he had met. Neko leaned closer to him, so she was gently resting her weight against him. "Tell me a story, please. About some of your wandering." She closed her eyes as Kenshin began, he spoke of boats at sea, a girl named Senko, small villages where he would help out at inns, or any place that would take him in and accept his help. He kept the story light and amusing; cutting out or distorting parts that he thought would make Neko worry. So they sat together, like they had done so long ago. When the stories stopped they sat in silence together and watched Kaoru and Yahiko spar with each other.

The training was just about done when Dr. Genzai brought his two granddaughters over.

"Why! Aren't you two cute?" Neko said smiling at the both of them.

Introductions were given and before Dr. Genzai left, Neko revealed what she had in her basket. She smiled warmly at everyone. "It's called chocolate," she said matter-of-factly. "I met some French traders and they gave me a bunch of it!"

Kaoru practically squealed. "You have chocolate? I heard it's so tasty and it melts in your mouth."

"It will melt in your hand too if you're not careful," Neko handed everyone a piece. "I wanted everyone to have a chance to try it, so I brought some with me."

They were all sampling the chocolate when Misao came back from her search for Aoshi. She sighed as she made her way to the group. After searching so long all over Japan to find him it was like he had never been found, the way he was always wandering off in the morning and hardly ever returning before dusk.

She was starting to feel really depressed until she saw what everyone was eating. "Is that chocolate!" She ran over to see if there was any left for her. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad day after all if she could get some sweets.

A big grin came over Neko's face as she handed Misao a piece. "Want some?" Cheerfully, Misao took the offered piece. Neko was a great person in her book!

Everyone munched on the chocolate, thanking Neko for bringing it over to share. Neko smiled brightly. She was glad Kenshin's friends liked her. They ate their chocolate and then everyone started talking.

Neko asked a bunch of questions about Kenshin, trying to figure out how he had been living his life. Everyone was having a rather enjoyable time until Sano came. He walked up grinning and waved to the group. "Hey, everyone! Guess who came to pay a visit."

Everyone looked around for someone, but Sano was alone. He snickered slightly as a large brown chow came bounding around the corner. "Notaro!" Ayame and Suzume cried out in joy at seeing the big dog again. They were about the only ones who were happy to see him. Yahiko and Kaoru just looked annoyed. Kenshin laughed weakly, amused by the half angry looks, until he saw Neko.

All the color had drained from her face, she was breathing quickly, and she was shaking. Kenshin quickly noticed she was subconsciously rubbing her bad leg; instantly he knew what was wrong.

Only he figured it out a bit too slowly. Smelling the chocolate Neko had been saving for Sano, Notaro came waddling up to her. Frightened, Neko's hand clutched her cane tightly. "Stay back!" she yelled at the hungry dog.

"It's okay, Notaro is a good doggie," Ayame explained.

"Yeah! Notaro good doggie!" Suzume agreed.

Now everyone noticed how tense Neko was. "Notaro may be annoying and wrecks a lot of things, but he's a nice dog," Kaoru admitted, trying to clam Neko down.

"Get him away from me!" she shouted, quickly getting to her feet and backing away. Kenshin quickly intervened. He stepped in front of the curious dog and took Neko's hand.

"It's all right Neko, he won't bite you. How about you wait inside? I'll be right in."

She nodded numbly, slowly heading to the door, eyes never leaving Notaro. Kenshin sighed once she was inside.

Sano sucked in his breath through his teeth. "Sorry about that, didn't know she was so afraid of dogs. It's just that Notaro's owner was in town and thought we'd like to see him again."

"It's all right Sano, you didn't know." Kenshin was quiet a moment, before excusing himself to find Neko.

She was sitting on the floor, her knuckles white around her cane as she clutched it close to her. His heart dropped slightly when he saw the pure panic in her eyes, it was clear she was on the edge of having a nervous breakdown. She was still so haunted by what had happened, so scared, that even ten years after being attacked by Muroi's dogs she still carried that fear.

She looked up at him when he entered the room. She whispered hoarsely to him, eyes wide. "Don't let him bite me."

He knelt down beside her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Notaro is a good dog Neko, he won't bite you. Not all dogs are mean."

"I don't _care!_" she snapped, tears running down her face. She screamed again, "I don't _CARE!_" She clutched her cane tighter and Kenshin wondered if she planned on using it as a weapon if Notaro came inside.

She was frantic now, and it was clear she wasn't going to calm down any time soon, at least not without help. Kenshin reached out and pulled the frightened girl in to his embrace. He whispered soft comforting things until her crying had died down to choked sobs. He let her go and held her out at arms length.

She smiled weakly at him. "Gomen, I know all dogs aren't bad, I just get so scared."

He carefully wiped a tear away from her eye with his thumb. "It's all right, you're safe now." His hand drifted away from her face as Yahiko came inside to let them know that Sano had taken Notaro to the clinic to visit Megumi and the others.

Neko took a few more minutes to compose herself before going back outside. No one mentioned what had happened or the redness of her eyes, conversation eventually picked up again and the day passed by happily.

Aoshi was heading back to the dojo as the sun was beginning to lower in the sky. He was just about at the gate when he looked up and saw a man walking up from the other direction wearing a western style suit. The suit was a lighter brown than his dark brown hair, cut neatly about his face. He walked straight and held himself like he was an important man, yet his brown carefree eyes said that he could care little of titles and importance. He was smiling warmly as he walked up fearlessly to Aoshi.

Aoshi had stopped in front of the gate and watched the man walk up to him. "Hello, is this the Kamiya Kasshin-Ryu dojo?" He spoke warmly and the smile never left his face. "I'm looking for someone."

Aoshi eyed him for a minute. He didn't seem threatening… but then again not everyone out for revenge looked threatening. "Who are you looking for?"

* * *

"It's getting late," Neko mentioned sadly as she glanced up at the sky. "I should get going." She suddenly brightened. "Why don't you all join me? I could show you some of the western customs!"

"That sounds fun!" Misao chattered excitedly, going on about all the things she heard about western culture. The others agreed and they were heading out when the gate opened and Aoshi and the man stepped through.

The group stopped as Misao cried happily at seeing Aoshi. Kenshin's eyes were attracted to the other man. He looked so familiar, yet, he couldn't figure out who it was. He was still trying to figure it out when Neko yelled. "What are you doing here!"

The man smiled. "I finished early, and I figured I'd help walk you home. And I really wanted to see Kenshin again."

Kenshin tensed a little bit; so he did know him, but _who_ was he? He was sure he knew this man.

Neko hurried forward, going as fast as her leg would allow, wrapping her arms around the man's middle. She grinned as she looked up into the man's face. "That was nice of you, anata." She turned to the rest of them, Misao's mouth having dropped at the word _anata_. Neko smiled brightly as she raised her hand to point at the man. "Everyone, this is my husband, Kanai."

* * *

A/N: Some of you may have recognized the name Senko, most of you, probably didn't. That's alright, she's an OC from my fics Kenshin Lost At Sea and The Winds Revenge. Two of my older (and crappier) stories. I just like to be cute and make references to my other stories within a new story. I'm weird like that. And if you don't know who the dog Notaro is, that's okay too. He's from one of the dreaded filler episodes, it was just easier using him then writing that the group came along a strange dog in the streets. 


	4. –:Ten Long Years:–

A/N: Aw... I'm going to miss talking to you guys here, but! At lest you'll be getting emails from me instead! Anyway, I don't know how quick the next chapter will be up. I'm having a bit of a writers block.

Chapter 4 - Ten Long Years

"Your husband?" Misao shouted what nearly everyone else was thinking.

Kenshin's mouth opened slightly. No wonder this boy had looked familiar. "Kanai, you were Neko's childhood friend." He remembered now. This boy - no, man - had probably saved both his and Neko's life back then.

Kanai smiled sweetly. "I'm glad you remember me Ken-" He paused a moment. It would be rude to call him by his first name, but truth be told he didn't know Kenshin's last name because Neko always called him by his first. "Uh… Battòsai-san."

"Kanai!" Neko snapped, and he knew he had said the wrong thing long before she elbowed him in the stomach. His wife glared up at him. "I **_told_** you. His name is_ Kenshin_." She was furious.

"Gomen, please forgive me Neko, but I didn't feel comfortable calling him by his first name without permission."

Neko looked like she was ready to throttle poor Kanai until she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked back to see Kenshin standing behind her, a smile on his face. "It's all right Neko. He didn't mean it." He looked to Kanai, smile growing slightly larger. "Please, call this one Kenshin."

Kanai smiled back, happy to have been saved from Neko's wrath. He had learned long ago that calling Kenshin Battòsai would have dire consequences around Neko. "Alright, Ke… Kenshin, I will." Neko gave him a glare to say that she would make _sure_ that he'd never slip and call Kenshin Battòsai every again.

Introductions were given, then everyone headed off to visit the inn Neko and Kanai were staying at. Even Aoshi went, if only to keep Misao from crying. Neko was showing everyone around, chatting away excitedly as Kanai and Kenshin hung towards the back of the crowd.

"I'm glad you and Neko found each other again," Kenshin mentioned as they watched the women giggle excitedly at this and that.

"Yes. After I saw you and Neko leave again, I decided I wanted to find her and try to prevent her from getting so hurt again." Kenshin flinched slightly, remembering waking up to find Neko sick and injured. Not that he had been any better, but it wasn't fair; Neko shouldn't have been hurt. "So I worked hard and got into the trading business, and eventually found where Neko was staying. When I found her she told me that she wanted to search for you, and as the line of work I had gotten into had me traveling a lot I asked her to come with me so she could."

He paused a moment and smiled. "It was a few years later that I asked her to marry me." He shut his eyes and remembered the memory as he retold it to Kenshin.

* * *

His heart pounded in his chest as he walked arm in arm with Neko. Tanabata night, and he was so excited that Neko had agreed to share a meal with him on top of a small bridge. He had looked forever for the perfect romantic spot, not that he thought Neko would be thinking about anything romantic. They often took a small picnic out to eat, but tonight was special and he was nervous.

So he walked, a basket on one arm, Neko on the other, and Kanai hoped he wasn't sweating too much. When they got to the bridge he heard a small surprised and happy 'oh!' from Neko. "It's beautiful," she uttered, practically breathless. She let go of Kanai's arm to look over the railing.

Quietly Kanai set their dinner down on the rail and put his hand into his pocket. His fingers fiddled with the small box in his pocket. It was now or never. He tried to swallow, but his mouth was dry. "I'm sorry we didn't find Kenshin in this city."

Neko's face softened. She was quiet when she finally spoke. "It's all right, we'll find him someday."

"I know you care deeply for him," Kanai spoke, suddenly unsure if he could go on. Again he swallowed and managed to continue. "And I care deeply about you." He pulled the small box out of his pocket as Neko finally looked away from the water and at him.

Her eyes trailed down to the small box, a look of confusion settling over her face as she stared at it. Kanai wondered if using this western custom was a bad idea, but he couldn't stop now. If he stopped now he would never get the nerve again. He got down on one knee and opened the box to reveal a stunning diamond ring. "Neko, I love you. Will you please marry me?"

She stood so still, he was sure she wasn't breathing. She just stared down at him with wide, surprised eyes. He lowered his head; he should have known she cared too much about Battòsai to ever love him. He just had to try. He was about to tell her she could just have the ring as a gift instead when he heard her start to cry. He shot his head up and saw tears in her eyes and a smile on her face. "Oh, Kanai!" She fell down to her knees and hugged him. "Are you serious? You really mean it?" She kissed him over and over again. "Yes! Yes! Yes, Kanai! I love you! I want to marry you!"

He laughed, he just couldn't believe it. With shaking hands he took the ring out of its box, and with tears in his eyes put it on Neko's finger. She hugged him again and he kissed her back. They wasted no time planning. They were officially married less than two weeks later.

* * *

Kenshin smiled as Kanai finished his tale. "I'm glad you two found happiness."

He smiled back. "I am, too." Watching Neko chat so excitedly to the others made his heart swell. She looked so happy and content and it made him so happy to see her like that.

He looked back at Kenshin, who was watching the women also, a grin on his face. "Kens-shin? Is there something else I could call you?" He was so used to being professional and he didn't have such a close relationship with Kenshin as Neko did. Maybe later he could call this man by his first name, but for now it made Kanai uncomfortable to do so.

Kenshin understood how Kanai felt. He had the same feeling many times before. "Aa. You can call me Himura."

Kanai sighed. "Thank you, Himura-san." Kanai left to help his wife with giving the tour before Kenshin could protest the added honorific to his name.

* * *

After their guests had left, Neko and Kanai went to dinner then came back to their room to get ready for bed. Kanai climbed into the bed they shared as Neko finished dressing and washing. She joined him, a content smile on her face as she snuggled up close to him. Kanai grinned and rubbed her back softly as they sat together.

He had learned quickly on their wedding night that Neko was, in fact, frightened and nervous about intimate touching. She had been so embarrassed that night and refused to talk about it, but that was all right. Kanai loved Neko for who she was, not for her body, or if she was right for bearing children. He loved Neko with all his being, he'd do anything for her. He could take it slow.

It had taken them a few years traveling together before this simple act of back rubbing had stopped making Neko tense up. Kanai guessed it had something to do with what happened when she had gone missing for those few months. He didn't press her for answers, for he knew it hurt her to think about it. Instead he took things at her pace, letting old scars heal on their own. One step at a time.

She sighed as she leaned her head against his shoulder. "He's different." She spoke softly, as if she were daydreaming.

"Who? Kenshin?"

He felt her nod her head against his arm. "He's so gentle now, so soft-spoken. He calls himself unworthy. He doesn't take control of situations. He lets Kaoru hit him, I don't mean to talk badly about Kaoru, but he really shouldn't let her. Back when I was little no one dared to cross him. And his eyes… they're so different. I miss his old eyes so much."

He didn't answer right away, thinking everything over carefully. "I know what you mean. Granted, he was asleep for a good portion of the time I knew him, but he does seem very different. Not so…" He paused, looking for the right word. "Scary."

"He was never scary!" She almost sounded horrified that Kanai would say something like that. "What's wrong with him? He's so different now! He's not who I remember him to be, and yet he's Kenshin."

"It's been ten years, Neko." He spoke gently. "Things change."

She sighed again. "I know, but he's changed so much and I don't like it."

"He seems happy to me."

For a long time she was quiet. "I know he's happy, but still…" She didn't finished her thought. "I don't know. He seems so Kenshin and yet, so not." She shook her head a bit. "It doesn't really matter. What matters is he's here!" A bright smile overtook her face. "We've finally found him, and it's been so good seeing him again."

A grin spread across his lips. "Good. Now let's go to sleep. I have to get up early and meet that French trader again tomorrow." Neko yawned in agreement and the couple fell asleep.

* * *

She dreamed. She was walking without her cane, through the woods. Neko could feel the heavy sense of being alone all around her. She quickened her pace, wanting to be anywhere but where she was.

On and on she walked. Up ahead she saw someone; it was a man. He turned and smiled at her. "Kenshin!" she cried out happily and ran up to him. "I'm glad I found you."

Kenshin was quiet and started to walk down the path. "Is this the way out?" He didn't speak, but Neko trusted him and followed behind him. The further they walked the more Neko could hear laughter. She moved closer to Kenshin; he would protect her. Her angel would never let anything happen to her.

Out of the trees, two figures stepped into view. They were smirking. The first, his face cast in shadows, boldly walked up and grabbed Neko by the arm. She cried out for Kenshin's help, but he just watched with his violet eyes. "I told you," the man said. "You can't run away from me." Neko shrieked as the face of the man came into view. Muroi grinned at her, lust in his eyes.

Again she screamed for Kenshin, but he was busy with the second man. The two of them were fighting, and the second man was winning. Neko screamed again once she recognized the second man. Hiroko; he was back, and he wanted Kenshin's head.

She threw punch after punch against Muroi, trying to get him to let go of her. Kenshin could hold his own. Hiroko only managed to beat him before because he had her as a hostage. If he didn't have her this time, Kenshin would win. Kenshin would never lose, he couldn't! Because he was an ange-

Hiroko's sneer cut her thoughts off. "You've grown weak and soft. I've won!" Neko screamed soundlessly as she watched Kenshin's head separate from his body.

She screamed over and over again, although no sound was escaping her. She thrashed violently against Muroi, but it did no good. She could feel herself shrinking; she was too little, too little to do anything. Muroi grinned and moved his mouth over her lips.

She sat bolt upright in bed. _No! Muroi is dead! He's dead!_ Her heart was racing in her chest and she was shaking. She was safe, Kenshin was alive. She tried to calm down, but she couldn't get over what her dream had said: 'You've grown weak.' Could it really be true? No, it was just a dream. Just a dream…

But Kenshin did seem like he had grown soft. There was no power anymore behind his eyes. No strength behind his voice. No air of authority that surrounded him. All those things Neko had loved. They weren't there any more, did that mean Kenshin had grown soft?

He still carried his sword! She reminded herself of that. Swords were banned, yet he still had his, he couldn't have changed that much. Could he? She thought back to the day she had been introduced to Kenshin's friends. It seemed almost like they walked over him. He had been carrying_ all_ the groceries, he did basically whatever anyone asked of him without question or complaint, and he did the dishes and laundry - women's work! He let Kaoru _hit_ him. That didn't sit right with Neko. No one should be allowed to get away with hitting him, and yet… it seemed like he almost enjoyed it and was happy she was hitting him.

She yawned. It was late and she was tired. She could think more clearly on the situation if she had more sleep. She settled down in bed and rolled over so that she was facing Kanai.

She smiled at her sleeping husband. He looked so peaceful, so happy. He had done so much for her, much more than she guessed any man would do for their wife and never asked for anything in return. He didn't even really expect her to love him back; he would follow her to the ends of the earth for nothing else, but to know he was there if she needed him.

Moving closer and wrapping an arm around his middle, she heard him sigh in content. She could feel his warm breath on the top of her head. Neko began to cry, feeling so blessed. Not only did she have an angel, but she had a man who would do anything to make her happy. She smiled, buried her face against his chest, and fell asleep.


	5. –:Disturbing News:–

-1A/N: Chapter five is here for your reading pleasure! I know I won't be quick with the next update, holidays and all. Been really busy lately! But any free time I have I will be working on the next chapter! Till then! I wish you a happy holiday, no matter what you celebrate and good days if you don't celebrate anything!

And as always! Nekotsuki is my beta reader! Thank you Nekotsuki!

* * *

Chapter 5 - Disturbing News

Saito Hajime read over the report carefully. It came from a small farming village not too far from Tokyo; a warning about a brutal killing, and for the police to be on the look out for the killer. Saito couldn't help but be partly amused. From what he read and understood, he should know the killer. If not, he knew someone who would.

"I guess I'll need to pay Battòsai a little visit," he spoke with a smirk. This should be a very interesting case indeed.

* * *

Kanai had walked Neko to the dojo before heading to his meeting. She had been invited to share breakfast with Kaoru, Misao, Yahiko and Kenshin (Misao sorrowfully pointed out that Aoshi wasn't there, apparently he had gone off on his own again) and she graciously agreed. They were all enjoying their meal when Kenshin set his bowl down and his eyes narrowed. His violet eyes turned dark and calculating.

Neko's heart rose when she saw them. Now _those_ were more like the eyes she remembered. He hadn't grown weak, he was still as strong as ever.

Kaoru thought differently when she saw. Something was wrong. "Kenshin?"

"We have a visitor," he said, standing up.

Saito smirked as he made his way into the room. "I see you have some company."

"Don't you knock?" Yahiko snapped at the cop.

"Y-y-**_you!_**" Neko's voice was so soft and so bitter it caught everyone's attention. She shot to her feet, nearly falling over before she steadied herself on her bad leg. Kenshin was shocked; he had never seen Neko so angry and upset, as she glared at Saito. She raised a hand and pointed an accusing finger at him. "_You,_" she repeated.

Saito looked rather amused. "Have we met?" Apparently he had done something to make this cripple very angry.

Neko stormed over towards Saito. "It was you! You killed my parents! It was you! Wasn't it! You're Saito Hajime _aren't you!_" She shrieked at him. One of the men who had haunted her dreams for so long was standing there _smirking _at her!

Now Saito really was amused as he watched the girl's hand clench around her cane. Everyone else in the room looked rather shocked and not sure what to do next. "Do you plan to take your revenge by smacking me with that stick of yours?" he mocked.

Neko fumed. "Why, you!" she screamed. She really was tempted to smack him over the head with her cane, but she stopped herself. She had to calm down. She looked to the floor. "I can understand why you killed my father," she said softly, angrily. "He was your enemy, but my mother..." She hissed. "My mother wasn't a fighter. You didn't have to kill her! I was alone after that! I had no one to turn to!"

Ah, now Saito remembered this girl. He would be lying if he said he wasn't surprised to see she had lived. "If you remember correctly, _child,_ your mother attacked me. Twice. Had she been smart, she would have grieved over her husband and looked after her child. Instead she was a fool and attacked someone much stronger than herself. She's the one who left you alone."

Now Neko really did lift her cane, ready to strike, but instead she shook it at Saito. "Don't you _dare_ insult my mother!"

"Don't you insult me," Saito snapped back. "I don't kill women and children without reason."

Neko's shoulders heaved as she glared at Saito. She breathed in deeply, trying to calm down. She knew he was right. Her mother had attacked him. She put her cane down and shut her eyes. "Gomen, you're right. I was upset. I don't blame you for my parent's death."

Saito mentally applauded the girl for her sense. Even if he could practically hear her grinding her teeth. She understood the meaning of war, understood people died and their killers really weren't to blame. That, and she knew better than to actually attack him. Although it would have been interesting if she had gone any farther than shaking her cane at him.

He watched as Battòsai moved to comfort her. She was doing her best not to cry and he spoke softly to her, telling her that it would be all right. Watching this Saito quickly understood how the girl had survived alone in the streets of Kyoto. She had survived because she wasn't alone. She had a demon to watch over her.

* * *

When Neko had calmed down a bit more, Kenshin took Saito to a different room and shut the door. Upset and annoyed, he got straight to the point. "What do you want?"

A wolfish smirk on his face, Saito looked towards the door where the others were outside. "I wonder if tanuki is jealous of that little girl out there."

"Saito," he growled. "Neko is just a friend."

"Just an _old_ friend, Battòsai?"

"What do you want?" He wanted the subject changed, and he wanted Saito out of the dojo.

"Information. There's been a brutal killing in a nearby village."

"What's that have to do with me? Isn't it the _police's_ job to look after situations like that?" Kenshin knew there had to be more; Saito wouldn't come here to discuss matters such as murder, unless someone very powerful was behind it.

A feral smile crossed Saito's face. "Because you're a suspect."

Kenshin was quiet for a bit. That had taken him by surprise. Him? A suspect? "What do you mean. Surely you don't think that I-"

Saito gave a wave of his hand and cut Kenshin off. "Of course I doubt someone who has grown as weak and soft as you could have caused this. The man was found with a series of wounds. Cuts and bruising all over his body. On most of his torso and shoulder there were signs of burning, his shoulder being the worst. Broken ribs. A large gash that looked like it had been reopened and allowed to become infected on his side."

Kenshin's eyes widened at each new description. Saito was probably only giving him a brief version of the victim's injuries, but it was enough. The scars left behind from Hiroko's brutal treatment of him while in his clutches had been repeated on someone else.

Saito continued. "Although the final blow is a bit odd. The man didn't bleed to death, but was shot right in the middle of his forehead." He paused a moment before continuing. "The interesting thing is, we both know the 'victim.'" He said the word victim in a sarcastic, hateful tone. Whoever the person was, it was clear Saito had no pity for him.

Kenshin thought carefully as he waited for Saito to tell him who the victim was, for he knew he would. Who could the two of them have known?

"The man was Hiroko."

Kenshin suddenly felt cold, he would have guessed Hiroko to have been the killer, not the victim. This was a surprise.

Saito continued. "There are a small few Shinsengumi members that are still alive and knew what Hiroko did. Tell me Battòsai, is that the girl? The girl you threw away your life for?" Kenshin was quiet; he was uncomfortable knowing Saito knew what had happened to him. "So she's the one Hiroko used to get to you. He was a coward and deserved what he got."

"No one deserves to be tortured." He growled it out from between his teeth.

"I guess you'd know that better than I would, Battòsai." Kenshin shot him a glare. "Still, there are only a few people I could think of that would have known your injuries enough to remember them years later. Hiroko disgraced the name Shinsengumi when he used such tactics. Even if it was to kill you, he should have died years ago." Kenshin decided not to comment on that. "What I need to know is how many people knew of your injuries and the person that caused them."

Kenshin was quiet as he thought. Reizo would have known, but so would the three doctors, except Itsuo had died before the war had ended and he had heard that Yasuo had died of old age a few years ago. That meant only Reizo and Takeo were left who would have knowledge of his injuries and who caused them. Then again, they weren't the only ones, were they? Neko; she had seen his injuries, and her friend Akina had seen his injuries too.

He just couldn't believe any of them would have done something so brutal. Reizo, he really wanted nothing to do with the war; he had seemed so happy that last time Kenshin had seen him. Takeo was a doctor, a man who saved lives, not ended them. Neko, she was too young. She couldn't have remembered all of his injuries, and she could never be capable of something so horrible. Akina, he hadn't known her very long; maybe she was she was the one, but for some reason he really doubted it.

Saito was quiet as he watched Kenshin think over the possibilities. He took a cigarette from his pocket and lit it. Perhaps it was one of those lingering Shinsengumi still alive who had done it. He would be quick to agree to himself if he had ever seen Hiroko again he would have killed him, just in a swifter method. It was a high possibility. He would need to look closer into this, seeing how Battòsai didn't seem capable of thinking of someone off the top of his head that could have done this.

Without another word, Saito took his leave. He spotted Neko starting at him as he left. She wasn't glaring anymore, and her eyes were red. He laughed briefly to himself; a young girl could understand the dealings of war, and yet so many men couldn't seem to figure it out. It was killed or be killed. If you weren't killed then you had to kill someone else, as simple as that, yet those left behind were constantly looking for revenge. Fools, it shouldn't have to take living with a killer to see that fact.

Kenshin followed behind Saito, still concentrating on anyone who could have known about his injuries. His eyes were sharp as he thought things over. He stayed with Saito until the police officer left the premises, his eyes only softening when he came back and saw Neko again. She was crying again, and everyone was trying to calm her down, but she ignored Yahiko's cursing of Saito, Misao's comforting words fell on her deaf ears, and she flinched at Kaoru's comforting touch.

Without a word, Kenshin knelt down next to her, making a motion with his hands for the others to give her space. Gently, he cupped her face in his hand and called her name softly.

She lifted her head to look at him, tears coursing down her face. "Oh Kenshin!" she cried, right before she dropped into his arms, wrapping her own tightly around his torso. "I miss them, I miss my mom and dad. I miss them so much." She buried her head into his chest and broke off from comprehensible words to sobbing.

He moved his hand to her head, lightly stroking her hair. "I know Neko, I know."

Yahiko and Misao watched, mouth parted, stunned at such an outward show of emotions. Kaoru sat and watched, eyes fixed on the hand moving through Neko's dark hair.

After a few minutes, when Neko could form words again, Kenshin spoke softly, asking if she wanted him to find Kanai. She managed to mumble out a yes, but she wanted to go with him. So the two of them left, Neko's head bowed, ashamed of her tears, and with Kenshin beside her. Now the dojo was quiet, no one knowing what to say. Even when lunch rolled around and Kaoru mentioned cooking, not a single insult was spoken about her cooking.

Kaoru was absentmindedly overcooking the rice she had been planning on serving when Misao timidly walked in. "Kaoru-san, are you all right?"

She jumped, never having noticed Misao's arrival. She smiled. "Of course I am, why would anything be wrong?"

Placing her fists on her hips, Misao leaned forward. "Don't try to fake it, we all just saw Kenshin hug Neko! That must have upset you!" She crossed her arms in front of her chest, "I can tell when something's wrong, don't try to hide it from me."

Kaoru's answer was an amused giggle. "Is that what you think is wrong with me?"

"Of course it is!" Misao fumed, not enjoying being laughed at.

With a sigh and a smile, Kaoru shook her head. "Didn't you see? The way he held her, the way she hugged him? There was no love between them."

"How can you say that! He was hugging her!"

"Misao, when you were upset, didn't Okina-san ever hug you? Or do something to comfort you?"

Misao was quiet for a bit. "Well, yeah, but he's gramps."

"Exactly. What I saw was more like a big brother trying to comfort a little sister." Kaoru's eyes were bright. "Kenshin is to Neko as Okina-san is to you."

Misao thought that over for a moment, pictured Kenshin's and Neko's hug once more in her mind. Now that she looked at it from Kaoru's point of view, she could see it clearly, Kaoru was right, there was no love between the two. Still, she could tell there was _something_ on Kaoru's mind. "So, what is it then?" she said, being blunt. "There's something bothering you. I know it."

Now Kaoru was quiet for a moment. "It's Saito," she admitted. "I've only ever seen him come here when something is _wrong_. And when they came out, didn't you see Kenshin's eyes?" Misao shook her head, she hadn't noticed. "There's something wrong, there has to be."

Misao eyebrows furrowed as she thought. Kaoru had a good point, Saito did have a good habit at showing up just before things went bad. What could it be this time? She had no idea. "Uh, Kaoru?"

"Yes Misao?"

"The rice is burning…"

* * *

Neko waited for Kanai's return in their room. She knew Kanai couldn't leave work early, so she had asked Kenshin to take her to the inn and had left word with the innkeeper to send a messenger to her husband. She was anxious for him to come back, she had told Kenshin she'd be all right on her own, but now she wasn't so sure. She felt alone, small and vulnerable. New tears roamed down her face, oh how she hated to feel like this. So helpless, so _worthless_.

She was surprised when Kanai hurried through a door just over an hour after she had the messenger take a letter to him. When he saw her tears he hurried over to her and embraced his wife. He kissed her cheek, asking her if she was all right, what had happened, and just too many questions that Neko couldn't answer fast enough.

"I'm fine," she finally said. "I just ... had a bad day." She sniffed as her nose began to run. "How'd you get done so early?"

"I postponed the trade for a couple days when I got your letter." He kissed her again, glad she was all right.

Neko gasped, "But that was an important deal! I just asked you to come straight home when you were done so I could see you. You didn't have to do that!"

He smiled, shaking his head, holding her chin in his hand. "I knew something was wrong. I knew you needed me here, work can wait. You're more important than any job." He kissed her softly, then sat on the edge of the bed and held her hand. "I'm here Neko, tell me anything you need to."

With a shuddering sigh, Neko told Kanai everything that had happened that morning. By the time she had been able to cry a second time she had fallen asleep on Kanai's shoulder.


	6. –:What I've Become:–

A/N: Sorry for the wait! I got bit by the writer block bug. That and I'm starting to loose interest in this story slightly. Don't panic! I'm not going to stop writing it! I just find this story harder to write and worry that many readers find it unappealing. I have a couple one-shots on my mind, and I've started yet another Kenshin fanfic that will be multi-chaptered. Don't be surprised if that one pops up while this one is still being written. Just telling those of you reading that although I have other projects in mind I still stand by vow to never leave a fanfic unfinished.It just might take awhile…

Thanks to Nekotsuki who pities my horrible spelling and grammar and is my beta reader!

* * *

Chapter 6 - What I've Become

Kenshin came back in time to enjoy the meal Kaoru had thoroughly cooked. It crunched between his teeth, but he smiled as he listened to Yahiko and Misao complain. After what could be consumed was gone, Kenshin helped wash the dishes and scrape charred food off the cookware.

When everything had been cleaned and put in its proper place, he let his mind think over what Saito had said. He sat outside, staring up at the clouds. Who could have done it? Who could have killed Hiroko in such a way?

As he thought, he listened to Kaoru's socked feet as they padded up behind him. "Kenshin?" she asked hesitantly. "What's wrong?"

He smiled back at her. "Nothing is wrong."

She shook her head slowly. "Don't lie, Kenshin. Something is wrong, why won't you tell me?" He moved to open his mouth, but she stopped him. "And don't tell me it's to protect me, because that's never worked before."

He couldn't help it; a soft chuckle rose up in his throat. Then he sighed. She did have a point. "There's been a murder."

"A murder?"

He nodded. "There's more to mine and Neko's past than what's been told. When she was little she did stay with me, but one day the inn we had been staying at was attacked by the Shinsengumi." He paused when he heard her gasp. "They were looking for Katsura, and me, but they found Neko instead. They used her to get to me; they held her hostage saying they would let her go if I gave myself to them."

He was startled when she took his hand in both of her own. "Oh Kenshin," was all she could manage to say at first. "You let them take you didn't you?"

He nodded, continuing. "They wanted to know where Katsura was hiding, so they didn't kill me. The man who questioned me was the man who was recently found murdered."

"Oh," she said softly, holding back her tears. Kenshin didn't say it, but she understood what he had meant by the word questioned'. Some of the scars that could be found on nearly every part of his body hadn't come from the battle field. She didn't know what to say. She simply laced her fingers between his and rested her head on his shoulder.

Kenshin smiled, glad she hadn't pressed for more details, and squeezed her hand when she put her fingers around his. He leaned his head slightly against hers, basking in the comfort she brought.

* * *

Kaoru wasn't the only one who picked up that things were wrong. When Aoshi returned to the dojo and managed to detach himself from Misao, he sought out Kenshin.

Kenshin looked up from the wash when he saw Aoshi walking toward him. He had been half expecting the quiet ninja's visit; it wouldn't take Aoshi long to find out Saito had visited the dojo. He stood and brushed his soapy hands off on his gi, letting Aoshi start the conversation.

"I heard that Saito was here earlier."

"Aa." He paused; how much did he want Aoshi to know? "There's been a murder in a village not too far from here. The victim was a man sessha knew from the Bakumatsu." Aoshi was quiet, his eyes calculating. "The man's name was Hiroko, a disgraced former Shinsengumi member. Hiroko and sessha had a brief … encounter' … and it seems that it was repeated on him before he died." A small nod from Aoshi showed he understood what Kenshin was saying.

"Saito wanted to know if you knew anyone capable of killing Hiroko." A slight incline of Kenshin's head confirmed Aoshi's correct guess. "From what I understand, someone unhappy with what was done in the past has taken their revenge. It does not concern us. I wouldn't worry too much about it."

Kenshin agreed and went back to the laundry as Aoshi walked away. It didn't really concern him, yet an uneasy feeling had settled in the pit of his stomach. Who could have done such a thing?

* * *

Neko visited again the next day. She was a little timid at first, wondering if anyone would bring up what happened. She became more at ease again when no one mentioned it.

And so the days passed. Neko became a very familiar face around the dojo. She even started helping out, normally with whatever Kenshin was doing, but she said that seeing that she ate dinner there so much, she had to do something to repay Kaoru. So she helped to hang up the clothes, accompanied Kenshin when he went shopping, helped to cook, and gave a hand when there was cleaning to be done.

One day she came over around lunch time with a grin. "I want to treat my friends," she proclaimed. "Let's go out to eat, my treat!" Sano, who was over at the time, quickly agreed followed by Yahiko. Misao cheered, Kaoru thanked Neko, and Kenshin smiled. With Neko not knowing the area very well, it was suggested that they visit the Akabeko for some of their famous beef pot stew.

Tae and Tsubame were very excited to meet Neko, Tae talking excitedly to Neko about some of the Western customs she knew and complimenting her on her dress. The meal was devoured with the buzz of conversation never ending.

They left in a merry mood, and it was Neko who suggested that they not return to the dojo just yet. Instead she talked Kaoru into giving her a tour of Tokyo, claiming that she hadn't managed to see much of the city yet. Misao thought it was a great idea and the men, for the most part, were dragged along.

By the end of the day, they would all have wished that they had just returned to the dojo.

"Trinkets for sale!" the vendor called out to the large group he saw. "Buy a trinket for your lady! I have wonderful jewelry boxes! And if you have children, they'll love to play for hours with these balls and dolls! You sir, with the red hair! Surly you'd like to buy a trinket?"

Kenshin blushed, raising his hand. "No, sessha is just-"

The man interrupted after getting a good look. "Don't tell me, you're broke aren't you?" The vendor snorted. "Then move on, don't waste space for paying customers."

Kenshin could only laugh and moved to stand behind Kaoru, as she, Misao and Neko were currently staring at the colorful boxes the man was selling. Misao picked up a small box that was painted a light blue. "Excuse me, how much does this cost?" she asked, showing the vendor what she wished to buy.

The tall man with neatly combed, short black hair raised a slender eyebrow. "Got any money?"

Neko was annoyed. Having been around businessmen for at least the past eight years of her life, this man was the rudest one she had ever met. "Now, that's not how you should treat your customers." She straightened to glare at the rude salesman, but as she did her eyes widened and her mouth fell open.

The vendor felt a bit uncomfortable under Neko's shocked stare. He wrinkled his nose at her in confusion. "What? What is it?"

Neko's hands trembled as she spoke. "Ju-junko?" she mumbled.

The man blinked, stunned. "How'd you know my name?"

Kenshin glanced over at Neko. Something in her voice made him feel uneasy. He couldn't put his finger on what had changed in Neko's manner, but she suddenly seemed excited, and angry, and he didn't like it.

"It's you!" she finally responded breathlessly. "I've finally found you!" She grinned a bit madly. "You're the last one."

Junko was fairly confused now. "The last one? Do I know you?"

Neko calmly reached into her handbag. "Yes, though I doubt you remember me. Do you remember Makoto?"

Kenshin's eyes widened a fraction. He knew who that was; it was the man Neko had talked so much about after he had saved her from Muroi. Then this must be the man that had sold Neko to Muroi in the first place. He moved to intervene, to take Neko away from this man that had caused her so much pain, but he was a fraction of a second too late.

From out of her bag Neko pulled a pistol, her eyes wild when she saw the panic flash across Junko's face. "Do you remember him? I bet you don't. He was worthless after all, wasn't he? Just like I was!" she shouted, ignorant to the surprised yells of her new friends. She was angry, but she had found him. She had finally found him, the man that had killed her friend Makoto. Finally, she could take her revenge.

The crowded street started to empty quickly. People backed away from the woman with the gun pointed at the trinket vendor. Mothers pulled their children away from the scene, should the gun be pointed into the crowd.

Junko panicked. "I don't know who you're talking about! I've never killed anyone!" he cried, keeping a close eye on Neko's trigger finger.

"YOU LIAR!" Neko shrieked back. "You killed him! You killed a nice old man! Just because you thought he was worthless! You're nothing but a dirty man who only cares about profit. A dirty slave trader!" She starred at the quivering man with cold eyes. "I don't know how exactly you killed Makoto, probably not as nice or as quick as a bullet between the eyes." Junko flinched and began sweating. "So I've decided to be quick about it. An eye for an eye after all. Goodbye, Junko." She began to pull the trigger, but a flash of red in the corner of her eye stopped her. "Kenshin?"

Kenshin stood between her and Junko, pistol nearly touching his forehead. "Neko, lower your weapon. Killing him won't bring Makoto back."

Her lips twisted into a feral snarl as she hissed. "I know that, but I can't let him live after what he's done. He killed Makoto in cold blood, for no reason. Saito I can forgive, he fought to save his life and ideas, but this man, _this man_, deserves to die. Now move, so I can kill him."

Kenshin met Neko's cold stare with his own. "I can't do that, Neko. I can't allow you to kill him." He felt the man behind him lower into a crouch, probably to hide better. He was a coward, and Kenshin could understand why Neko hated him so much. He watched as Neko's gun followed Junko down, then back up again; apparently he realized crouching wouldn't help him in this situation. "I won't allow anyone to die as long as I can save them."

"What's wrong with you?" Neko shouted, tears welling up in her eyes. "You're not the Kenshin I remember! What's happened to you? Let me kill him! He's not worth protecting!" She sniffed through her running nose and blinked back tears. "You've grown weak, Kenshin; you're a push-over. Now get out of my way so I can kill him."

Now Kaoru was more angry than shocked; she wasn't going to let anyone call Kenshin a push-over. She opened her mouth to defend Kenshin, but was stopped when Junko finally spoke up.

"I remember you now," he chuckled. "You're that girl I sold to Muroi. The one he crippled, then tried to sell back to me." A low pitched, long growl rose in the back of Neko's throat. She didn't liked being called crippled, especially if the words came out of Junko's mouth. "Slaves should learn not to talk back to their Masters!"

Kenshin knew it was coming; he felt it, but deliberately didn't stop Junko from putting the dagger to his throat. "Drop your gun! Or I'll kill him!" he snapped at the newly enraged Neko.

"Oi!" Sano yelled, equally as angry. "Kenshin just saved your life! What do you think you're doing?"

"It's all right, Sano," Kenshin said calmly. He flicked his gaze to Kaoru, who had gone white. "It's all right," he repeated softly. Kaoru nodded at him and regained her composure; she trusted he knew what he was doing.

"Let him go!" Neko snapped, gun still raised. "Now!"

Junko responded by pressing the knife closer to Kenshin's neck. "Drop your weapon, unless you _want_ him to die."

Neko lowered her head, her arm dropped to her side, and the gun fell heavily from her hand to the ground with a soft thump. Junko grinned; he loved having the upper hand. He carefully removed Kenshin's sword from his side and dropped it to the ground next to Neko's gun. "Now, no one follow us or he dies!" he barked, grabbing one of Kenshin's wrists in his free hand and twisting his arm. He backed up with Kenshin, disappearing down a side street.

"Kenshin!" his friends cried, wanting to follow, but not sure if they should.

Sano quickly bent down and grabbed the gun right before Neko could pick it up again. "What were you thinking?" he shouted. "You shouldn't go around-HEY!" Before he could finish his lecture, Neko had scooped up Kenshin's sword and taken off after them. "Come back!"

* * *

Once Kenshin felt they had gone far enough, he stopped allowing Junko to drag him. "This is far enough. Neko won't be able to find you. You can let sessha go now and leave."

Junko laughed, pressing the blade closer to Kenshin's throat. "You think that's the only reason I brought you with me? Slaves need to learn their place in this world and that one doesn't know it yet." He snarled as he spoke. "Maybe, finding your corpse, she'll understand that."

Kenshin's eyes narrowed. This man was really a horrible person. He grabbed Junko's wrist with his free hand and pulled the knife away from his throat. A quick twist and his wrist pulled free of Junko's hand; going with the momentum of the spin he brought his elbow up and smashed it into the side of the man's head.

Junko went limp as a happy cry sounded in Kenshin's ears. "You did it! Oh, Kenshin! I should have known! You are still strong!" He turned and saw Neko standing not too far behind him, with his sword in her hands. She held it out to him. "Here! Finish the job! Punish him for daring to harm you!"

His response was to shut his eyes and to sigh sadly.

"Kenshin?" Neko called out his name, confused.

"Neko, revenge is something you should not dirty your hands with. This man might have done some terrible things, but during those times it was considered… normal." He stumbled over calling slavery normal, not wanting to call it so, but having no other word to call it. "He did nothing socially wrong back then. For putting this one's life in danger we can inform the police; it's a matter for them to take care of. Not yours or mine."

"He deserves to die!" she shrieked. "The police won't do anything!" She removed his blade from its sheath. "If you won't do it I-" She stopped, getting her first good look at the steel. "Kenshin, what's wrong with your sword?"

He walked up to her, taking the sword from her, and putting it back in its proper place at his side. "Ten years ago this one took a vow to never kill again. With this sword I have kept that vow, and I will never break it."

Her mouth hung open a bit, unable to respond, until she saw Junko start to get up. She snarled and was about to run up and simply beat him to death, but Kenshin held her back. "Junko!" she shouted, angry that he was so close and still alive. Junko let out a quick scream and ran off. Neko snarled as she watched him run. He had slipped through her grasp; she had been so close.

That was when Sano and the others finally caught up. For being a cripple, Neko was quick and nimble on her feet. "Hey, Kenshin!" Yahiko yelled. "We have to get Neko out of here, the police are coming to investigate!"

Kenshin ignored him; there was something on his mind he just had to know. "Neko… did you kill Hiroko?"

She easily met his eyes, and just as easily answered. "Yes, I killed him."


	7. –:A Deadly Story:–

A/N: Yay! Chapter seven! Gah, I'm just going to be frank… I have no idea when the next chapter will be out. No one seems to want to stay in character for some reason. I'm working on it, so keep that in mind! Thanks go to Nekotsuki for the amazing beta work! ALL BOW DOWN TO HER!

Anonymous Reviewers - I just wanted to take this time to say: I appreciate all your reviews, sorry I can't reply to them! But if you have questions I will answer them in the next A/N so please don't be afraid to review!

* * *

Chapter 7 - A Deadly Story

A great white shark jumped out of the sea, crashing back into it with a splash and a shout. "Did you see that?" the Englishman exclaimed at seeing the giant fish flying through the air. "I didn't know they could do that!"

Kanai sighed, not at all thrilled at seeing the creature jump. Not that he'd seen it before – actually, it was his first time ever seeing it – but he just felt uneasy. He didn't want to be on this ship at this meeting. He was worried about Neko, although he knew he had nothing to fear. She was with Battòsai, after all.

He heard his partner talking excitedly about the shark to the Englishman. That was his job after all, pandering to the clients. That's why they were out to sea anyway; the Englishman had some sort of foolish superstition about stepping on land. He didn't understand it, but if Kanai wanted to keep his job he had to get the man's business and that was making the Englishman happy.

He looked to the late afternoon sky and worried about Neko and he had no idea why.

* * *

Neko sat quietly in front of Kenshin, kneeling on the floor of the dojo. He had requested that they have a talk alone right after leaving the market. So here they were, neither wanting to start the conversation when they knew what was going to be said.

Kenshin studied Neko. She sat ready to answer any questions he had. He carefully put the sentence together in his head before speaking, his heart clenching as he did so. This girl he had once held in his arms, one that he had tried to protect, had killed. Had _tortured_ a man. "Neko, did you really kill Hiroko?" He knew by the look on her face that she had and yet he stared hard at her, not wanting to believe.

"Yes. I did." She said it easily, proudly even, but her heart ached as Kenshin lowered his head, disappointed.

"Why, Neko, _why_?"

"Because he deserved it!" she shouted. "Saito I can forgive. He did what he did to save his life, to keep his ideas alive, to fight for what he thought was right!" She sprang to her feet, pacing the room like a caged tiger. "Hiroko was wrong! He had no right to do to you what he did!"

"Neko, we were enem-"

"It doesn't matter! I saw what he did to you, Kenshin. I got a good look at you when you rescued me, and he had _no right_." She snarled the last part out, with her lip curled back.

"What gave _you_ the right?" Kenshin started to say more, but choked on his words when Neko fell to her knees, her face in her hands.

She was sobbing. "You don't know, do you? You don't know what he did." He kept quiet, and gave her time to collect herself. "Oh Reizo…"

He stopped breathing. Reizo? Did he have a hand in this? No, he couldn't have. One of the only men Kenshin had known during the war that was friends with him, who had tried to protect him. But it wasn't the thought that he helped Neko. He knew that wasn't what Neko was crying about. A sickening feeling of dread slowly crept over him, and he knew what had happened even before Neko said it.

"Hiroko _killed_ him."

He had known that was coming, had felt it, but it still hit him like a solid wall. Reizo was dead. Slowly, he lowered his head in mourning.

"Kanai was sent to a small farming village to negotiate a price for fresh crops. It was to be used in a trade or something like that." She gave a wave of her hand, dismissing the unimportant information. "Anyway, we stopped for some lunch and that's where I ran into Reizo. I didn't recognize him at first, his hair was longer, but he recognized me." She smiled. "He ran up calling my name, he seemed so excited to see me. He yelled: 'It's me! Reizo! Don't tell me you've forgotten me!' He took us out to eat and we talked. Oh Kenshin, it was so good to see him again!"

She shuddered and had to pause a moment. "He had become a farmer. He talked and talked and talked about farming, he seemed so happy." Tears slipped down her face. "He mentioned you, said he really wanted to see you again. To see how you were doing. He told me that if I ever found you and you needed a place to stay or anything to send you over his way."

Kenshin smiled slightly, hands clenched tight on his lap. Reizo had wanted to take care of him, had wanted to see him. If he had known, if only he had known where Reizo had gone, he would have loved to visit him… and now it was too late.

"It wasn't that long ago. Actually, it was right before we came to Tokyo, but we did stop at a couple of other villages first for business. We made a side trip to the village to see Reizo again, but… but…" She hung her head, unable to say it. "We found out that Reizo had been drinking with some of his friends, when a man with a scar on his face walked in. The barkeeper said Reizo must have known the man because when he turned around to look at the man after his name had been called he had such a look of dread before the man shot him and took off." She covered her mouth with her hand.

She sat still for a minute, trembling slightly, then her eyes narrowed and she lowered her hand. "I couldn't let him get away with that. I just couldn't. I went after him, and I found him."

Kenshin was quiet as Neko told her tale.

* * *

Hiroko sat down at the bar and ordered cheap sake. It had felt good, finding that traitorous Reizo and killing him. It was time to celebrate. He had already gone through a rather large number of bottles when a downtrodden man walked in. He watched as the man sat down next to him, ordered one of the more expensive bottles and began to drink.

"Got a good job I see," Hiroko murmured, jealous.

The man sighed. "Yes, but I'm not happy with it. I see your cup is empty. I'll fill it if you'll be kind enough to listen to my story."

Not about to turn down such fine quality sake, Hiroko agreed. So the man with dark brown hair filled his cup. "Into the market I take it?" he guessed, noting the man's western style suit.

"Aa," was the simple reply. The man talked about his business; how it kept him away from home and his wife. How he had come home and found her cheating on him with another, and he didn't know what to do. He constantly refilled Hiroko's dish each time it emptied, too busy talking to drink his own.

Hiroko slapped the man on the back. "I tell you what you do." He tried hard to keep his words from slurring together, and failed horribly. "You go home, and you beat her." Had he not been so drunk he might have noticed the sudden glint that came to the man's soft brown eyes. Maybe he would have seen the man's hand slip over his drink and drop something in it, but he was too busy laughing. Soon the man joined in with his laughter and their conversation continued.

After a while Hiroko found he was having trouble keeping his head up. "It's been nice talking to you, but I think I need to get back to my room now." He stood up from his stool and staggered for the door.

Grinning, the man came up and caught him by the arm before he could topple over. He laughed merrily. "I think you might have had too much to drink, my new friend!" He slung Hiroko's arm over his neck. "I'll help you get home!"

"Much obliged!" He looked around and pointed down a street. "My inn is that-a-way!" he shouted enthusiastically, and then paused. "I think…" Giggling like a couple of children, the new acquaintances stumbled down the road.

Hiroko wasn't sure when he passed out, all he knew that his head hurt something _awful_ when he woke up.

He opened his eyes and peered around him, unsure of where he was. He had just been in town, and now he was in the woods. His arms were tied painfully behind his back and his ankles were also tied. He panicked. What was going on?

"Finally awake," a calm voice called from the darkness. Hiroko whipped his head to the side to see two green eyes staring back, as a figure limped towards him. "Did you have a nice sleep Hiroko?" the woman hissed angrily.

"Who the _hell_ are you?" A swift kick to the face sent him reeling back.

"Neko. My name is Neko." She knelt down close to his face. "A long time ago you kidnapped me. You kept me in a dark room, and then you took me and used me against Kenshin. YOU USED ME TO HURT HIM!" Her cane struck painfully against his ribs.

He screamed as he heard the sickening snap. "Who the hell is Kenshin? I don't know what you're talking about!"

She snarled, grabbing a fistful of his hair and yanking him to his knees. "Ten years ago you raided an Ishin Shishi safe house. You kidnapped a little girl. You USED me! Then you gave me back to Muroi!" She threw him back to the ground, disgusted. "Do you remember now, Hiroko? Do you?"

He remembered; she could tell by the look on his face. She came toward him, ready for revenge, but he kicked with his bound legs and knocked her good leg out from under her. Neko fell with a cry to the ground as Hiroko attempted to roll away.

He rolled up to the boots of a man. "Battòsai!" he yelled, fearing it was him, but became angry when he looked up and saw it was only the man from the bar. "You!" he shouted and was going to say more, but instead saw stars as the man backhanded him.

"Don't you touch her! Don't you touch her, you bastard!" Kanai shouted.

"And who the hell are you?" Hiroko snapped back, but he would never know. Neko descended on him like a pouncing cat. He yelled and screamed as she viciously beat him, never relenting for a second. He tried to kick at her again, but the ropes restricted his movements. He tried to throw her off him, but she was so wild, so angry, so filled with adrenaline that he wasn't able to do more then buck her off him a couple times. She'd just jump right back on him, ignorant to any blows he might have been able to land.

Kanai paid no mind to the shouting, and instead checked the water he had boiling over the fire.

* * *

Hiroko laid in a trembling heap as he listened to the two talk in hushed voices. He hurt, he hurt _badly_, and the irony hadn't been lost on him. He remembered causing each and every injury on Battòsai. He knew what was coming, and just waiting for that scalding water was almost worse than actually being burned by it. _Almost._

Tears ran down his face. He was scared, very scared. The man was trying to talk the crazed woman out of it; at least that's what he thought he heard. He heard her mention something about an eye, oh god, don't let her rip out his eyes. His heart began to beat faster and faster as he watched her approach slowly after the man handed her something.

Her head was down, and the item in her hand reflected a bit of light from the fire. _Oh god. _He squirmed uselessly. _Oh god. _He knew what she held. _OH GOD!_ He screamed as the knife was shoved into his side. He screamed for all his worth, his voice cracking as it was drawn down. Screamed even louder when dirt and grass was shoved inside.

Why was this happening to him? He asked silently, tears streaming down his face. His glazed eyes moved over to Neko, watching as the man handed her a pistol. "_Please_! Don't!" he shouted with what was left of his voice. He didn't want to die! Not here! Not like this!

"You're begging!" Neko yelled back in an angry hiss. "Why are you begging? Are you pleading for your life? _Did he beg too?_ I _don't_ think so." She took her aim; he was lucky his bullet had instantly killed Reizo.

"_Please _I _don't _want to die! _I don't want to die!_"

"_Don't beg_"

_Bang.

* * *

_Kenshin's head hung low. It had been difficult to hear. How Kanai had agreed to help her and found some drugs from a shady businessman. The treatment of Hiroko. The only thing that he had been glad for was that the final blow had been quick.

"Kenshin? Aren't you relieved? You don't have to worry about Hiroko anymore, I took care of him."

"How, can I be happy? Neko, you _killed_ someone. No, you didn't just kill him. You _tortured_ him." He looked up at her with hard eyes.

Neko was hurt; she thought he would be happy she had taken care of Hiroko. She would have told him sooner, but she hadn't wanted to relive that day just yet. Although it had felt good, it hadn't felt as great as she had thought. "But I thought-"

"Don't you understand? You tortured him!" Kenshin didn't know how to respond. How could Neko, sweet little Neko, have done this? "How could anyone be happy about someone being tortured?"

"An eye for an eye Kenshin. An eye for an eye. That's what Itsuo told me. If he hadn't done it to you I wouldn't have done it to him. If he hadn't killed Reizo I wouldn't have killed him."

Kenshin's mouth hung open. "Neko, that was a _story_. Stories aren't real."

"I know that!" she snapped. "I know it was a story, but the lessons in stories can be real, and that one was!"

He sighed. He had no idea how to handle this. "So, because I killed people they should come and kill me?"

"NO!" she screeched, horrified. "No! You were fighting for _something_. You didn't use dirty underhanded tricks!"

"Neko." He looked her in the eye. "What you did was _wrong_."

She shot to her feet. "What's wrong with you? How come you're not happy? You've changed, Kenshin! Hiroko deserved to die! How can you not see that?" She turned and ran from him. She ignored his yell for her to come back. She ran out of the dojo and past her new friends, but she didn't miss the accusing look Sano shot her as she ran by.

He would have gone after her, but he knew where she was going. He would give her time to calm down and then he would go and talk to her. Kenshin looked at his friends. He had some explaining to do anyway, and this time he would tell them _everything.

* * *

_Kanai tore up the stairs when he came home later that day. The innkeeper, who he had become friends with, had told him that Neko had come back in tears. Something had happened; he knew it, something bad had happened.

He burst through the door and saw Neko huddled up on their bed. Clutched close to her chest was a simple old grass doll, with old and faded bloodstains on it. His heart dropped, she only got that out when things were really bad, like when she found out Reizo had died. He called her name softly and she looked up at him.

"Kenshin knows about Hiroko," she said quietly.

He moved and sat beside her. "And?"

"He _hates_ me!" she wailed. She threw herself into his arms. "Kanai… he, he, he _yelled_ at me!"

He held her close, whispering comforting things to her. As she was starting to settle down, there was a knock on the door. He opened it to find one of the maids outside.

"Excuse me for the interruption, but you have a visitor downstairs."

He felt a touch of annoyance. He didn't want to leave Neko, but if he ignored a client waiting downstairs he'd be in trouble. He gave Neko a kiss and told her he'd be back shortly. He descended the stairs quickly, intending to deal with whoever was down there as quick as possible. Saying he was surprised to see Kenshin waiting would be an understatement.

Kenshin opened his mouth to greet Kanai, but wasn't given a chance.

"What are you doing here?" Kanai snapped at him.

Kenshin was a bit shocked; he hadn't expecting that kind of reaction, at least not from Kanai. "Sess-"

"Get out," Kanai hissed. "Get. Out."

He hesitated. "Would it be all right if-?"

"No." Kanai stood firm. "No, it would not be all right. I might have been scared of you as a child, I might still be scared of you, but I'm not going to let you hurt her. I said get out."

Now Kenshin was just a little upset. "It was _not_ my intention to hurt her. I just want to talk to her."

"Everything she's done since you _abandoned_ her, she's done in order to find and please you," he growled. "What we did was because of how much she cared about _you_. Now leave or I'll have you _thrown_ out."

Kenshin sighed. This was going nowhere and he didn't want cause trouble. "It's all right Kanai, I'll leave, but I would like to talk to Neko again."

"She'll talk to you if she wants to talk again. _Get out_."

Kenshin turned and left.

"I won't let him back in," the innkeeper said, having witnessed everything.

"No, that's all right Setsuo, he won't be back." With a quick turn of his heel Kanai returned to his room.

"Who was it?" Neko sniffed when he entered.

"Just one of my clients."

* * *

Kaoru met Kenshin at the gate when he came home. Her chest felt heavy when she saw his bowed head and dragging feet. "Didn't go well?"

"I didn't even get to talk to her." He passed through the gate and started to head inside when Sano snorted, stopping him.

"That girl is trouble." He had his arms folded, standing in the yard, glaring at Kenshin. "I don't see why you feel the need to apologize."

"You don't understand, Sano. Neko had a hard life growing up. I don't think she fully understands what she did."

"She was going to shoot a man in front of everyone," Yahiko mentioned, crossing his arms and closing his eyes. "I think she understood what she was doing."

Kenshin sighed, not knowing how to make them understand. "I didn't mean it like that. She understands killing." He was quiet a moment, putting his thoughts together. "When she was little, she heard a story about two brothers. One was good, one was evil. The evil one hurt the good one, stole what was his. When the good brother was able to take back what was stolen he didn't kill his brother; instead, he did exactly what his brother did to him, saying _an eye for an eye_."

"But that's just a story!" Yahiko yelled. "Doesn't she know the difference between real life and stories?"

"Yes, she understands, but she thinks the saying an eye for an eye was a moral. She thinks it's all right to take revenge for those that hurt her and the people she cares about."

Now Kaoru spoke. "Then why did she forgive Saito? Didn't he kill her parents?"

"According to her, what Saito did happened during a war. To Neko he was justified in what he did; he was only protecting himself and his ideas."

Sano snorted. "So, wasn't this Hiroko an old Shinsengumi member? What happened in the past happened during the war, wouldn't he have been protecting his thoughts and ideas too?"

"Not to Neko. He used her; she saw it as being underhanded. She saw what Hiroko did and what Saito did as two very different things."

Everyone was quiet until Sano finally spoke up. "I guess selling slaves and killing a man just because he got old would fall under that too." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I guess I can kind of understand how she feels. I mean, I targeted every revolutionary I could when Captain Sagara was killed, and she's only targeting the ones that hurt her personally." He was quiet for a bit, glaring at the ground. "But what she did was sick and _disgusting_ I might have targeted everyone, but to torture someone..."

Yahiko kicked at the ground absentmindedly. "Yeah, I guess I can understand too, I mean, if someone was to do something like that to someone I knew I'd be pretty pissed too. I don't like what she did, but I understand her feelings."

"Me too. Her methods are all wrong, but I know how she feels," Kaoru added.

A small smile crept over Kenshin's face, he was glad his friends understood. He headed inside. "Sessha will be in his room."

Kaoru watched everyone disperse. Yahiko went back to his training and Sano headed home. She stood outside the gate for a little longer before heading inside. Quietly she made her way to Kenshin's room. He seemed all right now, but she could tell something was still upsetting him. She knocked lightly on his door and waited for him to answer; when he did, she let herself in.

"Is there something you need, Kaoru-dono?" He was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the floor, his sakabato resting on a small stand within his reach.

She knelt down beside him. "Are you all right?"

Her concern for him touched his heart, and he sighed. "Yes, I'm just worried about Neko." He managed a meek laugh. "Kanai was really upset and sessha thinks he wanted to hit this one."

"Hit you?" She was surprised. "I just can't picture him doing that."

"Kanai cares very much for Neko." He smiled as he said that. "He took a lot of risks when he was little to help her; he was only trying to protect her feelings. They've known each other since they were kids."

Kaoru smiled as she pictured Kanai and Neko as children. Her smile slowly faded as she pictured Neko standing with a gun in her hand. It just didn't seem right. "Poor Neko," she said at last. "I wonder how she would have turned out if her parents had never been killed."

He was quiet, having wondered that himself many times before. What if Neko had never known Battòsai? She probably would have been much happier. He was pulled out of his thoughts when he felt a hand on his. Looking down at Kaoru's hand on top of his, he blinked a few times, and then moved to look at her smiling face. "But, at least she had you to watch over her. If you hadn't been there, she probably wouldn't have ever found Kanai again or maybe even be alive today. I'm glad she was able to find you."

With a smile he reached up with his free hand and placed it on top of the hand covering his. "Thank you, Kaoru."

A slight blush slowly spread over her face to match his own. Thoughts about how cute she was when she turned that shade of red entered his thoughts, and he blushed even more. They sat like that, hand in hand, and it wasn't long before they lost track of time.


	8. –:Picking Up Shattered Pieces:–

A/N: I know, you don't have to say it - it's been way too long. Sorry about that, but I got a job that sucked inspiration and time away. That and Kenshin didn't feel the need to be written in character. No, I take that back, everyone felt like they didn't need to be in character. But here it is! The next chapter! At last!

* * *

Chapter 8 - Picking Up Shattered Pieces 

It was a few days after the incident in the market. Neko hadn't visited Kenshin once and Kenshin stayed away from the inn. Kanai watched his wife quietly as she ate her breakfast, doll clutched in one hand. She hadn't let it out of her sight since that day.

She set her chopsticks down with a sigh. "He hates me."

He knew he didn't need to ask - he knew who she was talking about - but he asked anyway. "Who?"

"Kenshin!" she cried, miserable. "He _hates_ me! He never wants to see me again!"

Kanai bit his lip, not speaking right away. "No he doesn't, he …" He cleared his throat. "He was here that day."

Neko looked up at her husband, tears in her eyes. "He was? But … but why didn't I see him?"

He squirmed a bit uncomfortably in his chair. "He wanted to see you, but I told him to leave."

"You _what?_" she screeched angrily. "Why would you do that? He was here and you didn't even _tell_ me? How could you!" She was frantic, waving her arms around, pointing an accusing finger at him. She began pacing the room, but forgot she needed her cane, and when he moved to catch her before she could fall, she swatted his hand away. "Don't touch me!" she cried, grabbing the table they had been eating on for support. She covered her mouth to try to muffle a sob. "Don't touch me."

He froze, unable to do more than stare at his wife. He stood speechless as she regained her composure, grabbed her cane and walked out of their room without another word. He stood, staring at the door for a while, and then moved to sit back down to his breakfast. He took a bite or two before the chopsticks in his hand began to tremble and fell out of his hand. His head bent over, Kanai let his tears fall into his food.

* * *

Kaoru watched Yahiko as he practiced with his shinai, although she wasn't paying much attention. She was worried about Kenshin. He had been quiet lately; well, he was always quiet, but more so now than before. He was just _too _quiet, and she knew he was thinking about Neko. He wanted to see her, but didn't know how. At least, that's what she thought the problem was.

They had all just finished breakfast, and Kenshin was currently washing the dishes. He had been smiling at breakfast, but it had been a forced one. She just wished she knew what to tell him, but she just couldn't understand what he must be going through. She didn't know what to say to him.

There was a knock at the gate and she went to answer it, thoughts still running through her head on how to handle the current situation. When she opened it to greet their guest, she was surprised to see a teary eyed Neko standing there.

"Is Kenshin here?"

Kaoru was quiet. A part of her wanted to scream no and slam the door in her face, like Kanai had done to Kenshin. How dare this girl suddenly come up and ruin the peace that Kenshin had been enjoying? How dare she? But these thoughts were fleeting; instead, she smiled softly and opened the door further. "Yes, he's here. He was washing the dishes, but he should be done soon."

Neko bowed low in gratitude and stepped inside. She bowed once more to Kaoru when she was inside with a string of thanks.

"It's all right," Kaoru replied dully, and lead Neko to Kenshin. She walked slowly. Now Kenshin could talk to Neko, but would it really help matters at all?

* * *

Kenshin was drying the dishes one by one, his mind spinning as he did the mindless task. What was he supposed to do now? He knew he needed to speak with Neko again, but he couldn't go behind Kanai's back. How was he supposed to talk to Kanai without angering the overprotective husband? Then there was Saito. What was he supposed to do if Saito found out Neko was responsible for the murder? She had drawn a gun in front of all of those people. If word made it to the police, Saito would definitely grow suspicious. Killing for revenge had been outlawed; what would happen to Neko if she was arrested?

Kenshin sighed as he put the bowl he had been drying away. This was too complicated. He couldn't lie to Saito if he came asking more questions, but he couldn't in good conscience allow Neko to be arrested. It was because she had lived with him for that year. It was all because of the one year with him that she had killed Hiroko. He was partly responsible for Neko's behavior. He needed to fix things.

"Kenshin?" Kaoru's voice pulled him from his troubled thoughts. He turned towards her with a practiced smile. There in the doorway stood both Kaoru and Neko. Neko had her eyes locked on the floor, while Kaoru stood gazing at Kenshin. "Neko's here to see you."

* * *

Neko waited quietly, kneeling on a mat. Kenshin had smiled at her and said he was going to make some tea for their talk. She fidgeted slightly. The wait was long, but Kenshin eventually came and sat a cup of tea down next to her.

Kenshin knelt down on the mat across from her and took a sip of his own tea. He always tried to keep some around, in case they should have visitors from Kyoto. (As they did now.) He took a deep breath and set the cup down, ready to begin.

Neko was the first to speak. "Kenshin, I'm so sorry! I didn't know Kanai sent you away! I wanted to talk to you, I'm sorry!"

He smiled slightly. "It's all right. I understand he was only trying to protect you."

Her head fell forward a little, her voice soft. "He doesn't need to protect me from you." Kenshin stared quietly at her hands as they clenched and unclenched in her lap, waiting for her to continue. "I don't understand. I thought you'd be glad that Hiroko was dead."

He didn't answer right away, taking a deep breath and going through what he was going to say in his head carefully. He needed to make Neko understand that no matter what happened, she had no right to go around killing people. "I never liked killing people, and I've never liked others killing people either."

"But you-"

He held up his hand, stopping her. "Yes, I know, but things were different then. That doesn't make it right. I regret taking every life, even if it was to protect my own and my ideas."

"But you at least regret it! Hiroko was a horrible man, he cared for no one!" Her hands clenched tightly around her cup; Kenshin was a little worried she would break it. He looked into her face, her green eyes, glaring into her cup.

"That doesn't make it right. No one has the right to take a life." He kept staring at her eyes. There was something there, past the anger. A feeling he knew too well, regret, but what was she regretting?

"I don't care. He deserved it." Hot tears prickled in her eyes.

"Neko, did it make anything he did better? Did it make you feel better?"

"Of course it did!" she shrieked, eyes wide, afraid.

"Did it?"

"Yes! Yes!"

He sighed sadly, he spoke softly. "It didn't, did it?" He could feel the terror radiating from her. She was scared, frightened by the truth.

She dropped her cup, the untouched tea spilling on the floor. She covered her face as her tears broke lose. "No! But it should have! Shouldn't it?" She bent over sobbing, and flinched slightly when Kenshin began to rub her back, trying to calm her down. She stared up at him, tears streaking down her face. "Oh Kenshin, it was supposed to feel so good. It was supposed to make me feel better!" She clutched his arms. "But it didn't! I just felt so empty! And I dragged Kanai into it!" She broke off into sobs and hid her face in his chest.

He held her gently until most of her tears stopped, then rose and proceeded to clean up the spilt tea. She watched with dull eyes, silent until every last drop was wiped up. "Does it get any better? Will this empty feeling ever go away?"

"No, but with time, it won't feel as empty." He gazed at her sadly. He hoped for her it would get better. He hoped it wouldn't linger as it did for him; the nameless faces would always be there.

"What should I do?" She looked up at him, eyes scared and looking for answers. She was that frightened, shy girl of seven again.

"You have Kanai. Love him and try to enjoy your life." He looked at her with sad eyes, wishing he could take her guilt and pain away, but this was something she'd have to get herself through. She was a big girl and had to take care of herself now.

"Kanai!" she exclaimed, hurrying to her feet. "I was so rude to him this morning!" She turned to leave, but spun back around just as quickly, a sad smile on her face. "Oh Kenshin, I must have been so much trouble popping into your life again."

He gave a slow shake of his head, a small smile on his face. "Not at all. It was so good to see you again and to know you're doing… well."

Now she let out a broken laugh, tears welling up in her eyes. "Oh, Kenshin!" she cried, pulling him into a crushing hug. "You were always so good to me. You were my best friend when I had nothing. You were like a brother to me."

He patted her back with a happy sigh. "You were a good girl, Neko. This one is glad to have met you."

She gave him one tight squeeze and took a step back, holding his arms. She smiled brightly at him. "Thank you Kenshin, thank you for everything you've done for me."

He placed his hand on top of her head, smiling back. "You're welcome, Neko."

She grinned, and then gave him one more squeeze. "Well, I have to go apologize to Kanai." Kenshin nodded and led her to the gate. With one last grin and a bow Neko was off, hurrying as fast as she could down the road.

Kenshin shook his head slightly as he watched her go. She would be just fine, he knew it. As long as she had Kanai to love her she would be just fine. Neko was just about out of sight when he heard Kaoru's soft footsteps behind him. He smiled. Having someone who cared about you definitely helped with the pain.

"Is everything all right, Kenshin?" Kaoru asked hesitantly, not wanting to pry, but wanting to know what had happened.

He shut the gate and turned towards her, smiling brightly. "Everything is fine, Kaoru." He thought she looked so cute, the way her eyes widened so slightly at the dropped honorific. "Neko realizes what she did was wrong, but she'll be fine now."

She let out a sigh. Kenshin thought things would be all right, so now she could work on getting those negative thoughts out of her mind. Neko had killed, but she knew it was wrong; she could be forgiven. Just like Kenshin. She smiled, glad that Kenshin seemed happy again.

"This one will let you get back to training, Kaoru," he said sweetly, heading back inside. "There's tea that needs to be cleaned up."

"Aa," she said with a nod. Yahiko was probably nearing the end of the thousand swings she had told him to do. Maybe next, she'd have him clean the dojo floor. She headed off, thinking up things to have Yahiko to do.

Kenshin headed inside to clean up the tea. He started to pick up the cups they had used, but when he went to pick up Neko's cup he found her handbag tipped over on the floor. She had forgotten it in her rush to get back and apologize to Kanai. He'd have to return it after he cleaned the mess up.

He reached to set it upright, but his hand stopped over the top of it. His eyes locked on the item inside. He knew better than to go through other people's things, but he couldn't help himself. He picked up the small doll that was always hidden in Neko's handbag. He smiled as he looked the doll over. She still had it; after all these years, she still had the doll he had given her. He chuckled a bit to himself. If she still carried this around with her everywhere like she had done when she was little, then she'd probably want her purse back right away.

His smile slowly faded as he stared at the doll in his hands. A child's toy - stained with blood. If she hadn't been with him, she would have never seen blood. If she hadn't been with him, she would never have tortured and killed a man. His stomach clenched slightly at the thought of it. Killing was one thing, torture was another. And Neko had thought she had done a good thing.

Well, not anymore at least. She did feel bad, very bad, for what she had done. Knowing that made Kenshin feel a little better. It meant that she knew what she had done was wrong, and now that she understood her feelings and that she was feeling bad for what she had done, she wouldn't do it again.

That was good, but now her actions would haunt her. He knew that well; she would have nightmares of what she had done, but hopefully with Kanai by her side, she'd be fine. Then again, that brought up another problem. Neko had drawn Kanai into torturing Hiroko. He was sure Kanai was just doing what he thought would make Neko feel better, but he had still taken part in the act.

Kenshin shook his head a bit. It was a bad situation, but there was little he could do. As much as he might wish, he couldn't go back in time to change things. He couldn't go back and keep Neko from meeting Hiroko. What was done was done. There was nothing more he could do. Neko was sorry for what she had done. There wasn't much more he could do.

With a sigh, he put the doll back into the handbag, relieved to find the gun missing.

It didn't take very long to finish cleaning up the tea, but he decided to finish drying the dishes before he left. When he told Kaoru he was leaving to return Neko's bag, she made him wait a bit longer so that she could give him a list of groceries he could get for her while he was out. After that he finally headed out to return Neko's handbag, clueless about the curious stares he was getting from walking around with a women's handbag.

* * *

Neko had slowed to a fast walk as she came closer to the Inn, a bit depressed. She knew that Kanai would have left for work by now, probably very angry with her. She'd have to wait for him to come home before she could apologize.

Her head hanging low, she entered the inn, ignoring the man dressed in a police uniform talking softly to the innkeeper. She was heading to her room when the innkeeper's voice broke through her thoughts.

"Neko-chan?"

She jumped a little, surprised by his voice. She turned to address him, noticing the police officer for the first time. Her heart almost stopped. "Is something wrong?"

The innkeeper looked away, towards the floor. The officer cleared his voice. "Your husband-"

"Kanai! What's wrong with Kanai?" Now, her heart was racing. How did this police officer know Kanai? What had happened?

"He's dead."


	9. –:Deceit:–

A/N: Whooo! It's here! Wheeeeeeeeeee! Sorry it took so long. I'm hoping now that I'm once again settled in on campus chapters will be written faster… one can hope. Thanks go to my wonderful beta Nekotsuki who makes this fic readable. That is… if you believe in the Nekotsuki fairy. XD

* * *

Chapter 9 - Deceit

Time stopped.

Neko could feel her chest tighten, her lungs burning for air, but she couldn't breathe. Couldn't blink. Couldn't move. She stared at the cop, who had moved his eyes to the floor. Dead? How could he be dead? Dead? She had just talked to him this morning! Dead? Her husband couldn't be dead! Dead? She needed to apologize to him!

The next thing she knew she was on the floor. Looking up into the startled faces of the innkeeper and the police officer. The innkeeper's voice seemed muffled and far away, he was asking if she was okay. Okay? How could she ever be okay again? Her eyes began to well up with tears.

It took the innkeeper and the officer a while to calm Neko down after she came to again. She had fainted and had cracked her head pretty hard on the floor. They had been surprised that there was no blood. When she had finally calmed down enough, the officer explained that he needed her to look at the body to confirm it was him. She nearly fainted again, but this time the innkeeper had caught her before she could hurt herself.

Weak, unable to stand and in the arms of the innkeeper, Neko found a thread of hope to hang on to. "So, it might not be him?"

"Perhaps," the tall officer said, avoiding a yes or no answer. He brushed his short black hair under his cap. "We need you to help confirm if it's him or not."

Neko felt cold. What if it was Kanai? Would she be able to look at him? But what if it wasn't? She had to know. "All right, I'll go." The officer took her hand, and helped her stand until she was steady. Without another word he headed out the door with a pale faced Neko following behind him.

As they walked, Neko concentrated on the officer ahead of her, noticing for the first time how small his uniform looked at him. She could see his ankles, and the style seemed to be slightly older than the one she had seen Saito wearing. It looked worn, the color had faded, there was a small hole near the right elbow. She noticed all these things to keep her mind off of Kanai.

"Suicide."

Neko blinked, wondering how long the officer had been talking to her. "What?"

"We're not sure if it was suicide or murder. He was found downstream past the bridge with a gunshot wound."

Neko felt sick. Why was he telling her this? She felt black creeping around the edges of her eyes. She shook her head, trying to clear it. She managed to keep from fainting, but a new wave of tears coursed down her cheeks. Suicide? It might be suicide? She wanted to throw up again. Had she driven Kanai to this? By yelling at him?

It seemed like forever, but they finally made it to the bridge. The officer took her arm and helped to keep her steady as they went off the road and started to follow the river downstream.

She kept walking, telling herself to put one foot in front of the other. That's all she thought about, and soon the sounds of people were gone, replaced with the gentle sound of the river.

Allowing the officer to lead her farther and farther down the river, she lost track how far they'd traveled, but eventually she realized they had gone far… really far. "How much farther?"

"Not too much farther," he answered with a small smile that sent a nervous shiver down Neko's spine.

* * *

Kenshin was just about to walk into the inn when he heard rather _loud_ screaming.

"You told her _WHAT!_"

"Well- The officer - I just-"

"And she went _where?_"

"The river."

"_Alone?"_

The topic was lost to Kenshin, but he could understand the anger coming from the voice. He hurried and entered the inn to see a red faced Kanai screaming at a rather confused and upset innkeeper.

"You just let her go with the officer? By herself! He told you I committed suicide? You told Neko that? WHAT WHERE YOU THINKING!" Kanai was furious; what had happened to Neko? He hadn't even noticed Kenshin enter until the innkeeper gestured that perhaps Kanai should lower his voice.

Kenshin cleared his voice, not sure if he was still on bad terms with Kanai or not. "Neko left her handbag at the dojo. Is everything all right?"

Kanai whirled and grabbed Kenshin's shoulders. "Himura-san! Neko's gone! I don't know what happened - I - I was at work. I just knew something was wrong. I _knew_ it. I came back early - nearly as soon as I got there - and Neko's gone! She's gone! Some officer came and told her I was dead!" He bit his lower lip. "I know… I know I yelled at you. And I shouldn't have. But please. _Please_. Help me find her."

"Of course." He touched Kanai's arm to show there were no hard feelings. "Let's go."

* * *

Neko was feeling very uncomfortable, as Kanai and Kenshin made their way towards the bridge. "How much farther?" she asked again. They had gone so far, so very far.

The officer stopped. "This is far enough."

"Far enough?" Now she was confused. "It's either we're here - or not." She looked around nervously. "Where is Kana- I-I mean the body."

He turned slowly, a smile playing on his face. Neko was nervous and started to take a step back. Something wasn't right here. Something was very wrong.

The officer took a step towards her, talking softly and condescendingly. "It's right here. Right over _here_." It all happened so fast, and she was still reeling from the news of Kanai's death'; before she knew it she was wrapped up in the officer's arms.

Her mind blanked. She didn't struggle - not right away. Why was this happening? What was going on? But most importantly what happened to Kanai? Was he dead? Was he alive? She was so emotionally worn that she didn't see the _other_ man until he started laughing.

"That was so easy. I can't believe how easy it was!"

Neko stiffened. Her eyes locked onto the second man, her anger rising. Junko. That snake. That bastard. That horrible, evil man.

He made his way up to her and laughed. "Slaves need to learn their place. If they don't, they're no good."

Her anger flared. "Junko you _bastard_! I am not a slave! I am a person! Now let me go!"

He ignored her, talking to the officer'. "Well, where's her gun?"

The imposter shrugged. "She didn't have a bag. She must not have it."

"You forget!" Junko said, in a superior tone. "She's been influenced by the Americans. I've found American women like to hide their weapons." Neko kicked and screamed as Junko lifted up her dress and found her gun strapped to her leg. He smiled and took it, rubbing her leg up and down as he did so.

Furious, Neko jammed her knee into Junko's chin, and then brought her foot back into the knee of the imposter. He yelped and let her go, and using the only weapon available to her, she brought her cane up and over her head and cracked it over the officer's head. He cried out, seeing stars, and she would have hit him again except when she brought her cane up to hit him again it was yanked out of her hands. Her heart leapt into her throat as she felt herself suddenly falling backwards.

She hit the ground hard; a jot of pain running through her spine from where she'd fallen. She had enough time to gasp in shock as she saw Junko raise her own cane and bring it down across her stomach. Tears flooded her eyes and she grabbed her stomach and began to roll away. Viciously Junko hit her again, and she screamed as pain exploded in her side.

Instinctively she curled - not realizing she was doing it. Pain flaring from her stomach and side, tears spilling down her face and nauseous with fear, Neko started screaming for help.

* * *

Kanai froze. He felt cold, sick and scared. Something was wrong; very, very wrong. They had made it to the bridge, but no Neko. Having asked around, they had been told of a woman who was following an officer; the two had headed off the road and followed the stream downriver.

He looked over at Kenshin. The man seemed tense; did he feel something was wrong too? Kenshin's violet eyes looked over at Kanai with a frown. "Kanai-"

"Go." He didn't need to be told. Kenshin did feel something too, and Kanai wasn't stupid - Kenshin was much faster than he was. "I'll catch up."

* * *

Neko bit her lip and tried to stop crying as she felt the barrel of her own gun pressed to her head. Anger welled up inside her, making her tears flow again, as she listened to Junko mock her.

"Stupid little cripple." He grabbed her hair and pulled her into a sitting position. "You were always worthless. I knew I should have broken you in before Muroi ruined you."

"Muroi didn't ruin me," she hissed. "It's people like you and him that are ruined to begin with." Neko almost regretted saying that out loud when the world went black for a few moments; Junko had smashed the gun against her head. _Almost._

"There's only one thing to do when a slave is useless." Neko felt a cold shiver run down her spine. Had Makoto, the nice old man that had taken care of her, felt this way before he had been killed? So weak? So helpless? So worthless? A small sob escaped her as she shut her eyes. She didn't want to die. She didn't want to die! Not like this! Oh please - not like this!

She waited for something - anything. Pain. Nothingness. Heaven. Hell. But nothing came. Just the quivering voice of the officer. "It's- It's- It's Battòsai!"

Neko let out a small squeak of surprise, looked up and cried out with joy. "Kenshin!"

Kenshin took the situation in calmly. There were only two of them. He recognized Junko from the market, and there was another dressed in an old police uniform. He could easily take both of them, but the gun that was currently pressed against Neko's head made him hesitant.

The one dressed as a cop was shouting at Junko that he hadn't said anything about Battòsai being involved. That was good - he could play off that man's fear. He took a small step closer to see what Junko would do with the gun. "Let her go." He started to take another step, but froze when Junko's hand tightened on the gun.

"Not another step, Battòsai. I'll kill her before you get to me." He kept his trigger finger ready. Was this really the Battòsai? Surely this man from the market couldn't be him. He seemed so weak. Not at all like the Battòsai he had in mind.

Kenshin was quiet a moment - choosing his words carefully. "Let her go. This one doesn't wish to fight you." He grabbed his sheath with his left hand. "However, if necessary this sword will be drawn."

Junko snorted; pressing down on the gun as Neko tried to squirm away. "I've seen that weapon of yours. It's a sakabato. You can't kill us with that."

"No, but I can break bones with it," he responded coldly.

"Give him the girl, Junko! He could bash our heads in and kill us! Give her back! She's not worth it!"

"Shut up! How do you know it's Battòsai anyway?" Junko snapped, pulling Neko closer to himself; he didn't want his head bashed in.

The officer's voice quivered slightly. "I've seen him before. I was with a big time Yukuza in these parts until he came and took this kid from us." He gulped. "He took out three of us with one swing. It's him."

"You're lucky to be alive," Neko hissed with a small hint of satisfaction. "You should be dead."

"_Shut up!_" Junko felt panic creeping in. If he did give the girl back, Battòsai could still kill the two of them if he really wanted. Then Junko wouldn't have his revenge either. There must be a way out of this so he came out on top - there must be!

His brain was spinning a mile a minute as he kept his eyes on Kenshin. Muroi had come back to get a slave to replace this one after he claimed Battòsai had stolen her. So… if that was true, then she meant something to him.

"All right, Battòsai. I'll make you a deal."

Kenshin didn't like the sound of that. "A deal?"

"I'm a businessman. I don't give anything away for free. Trade yourself for her."

"NO!" Neko screamed - horrified. "Not again! Kenshin don't you dare do this again!" She began to sob. "Just kill them - I know you can do it. Just kill them. Please, Kenshin. _Please!_"

Junko's heart flew at that statement. So it seems Battòsai handed himself over on another occasion. Which meant he would probably do it again. He just needed to add a little pressure before the manslayer could think of something else. He'd kill the threat, then he'd be free to kill the cripple. "I'll give you to the count of three before I blow her head in. One."

"Kenshin! Please don't!"

"Two."

"Please! Not again! Not again!"

"Three-!"

"Wait," Kenshin said softly, stopping Junko from pulling the trigger. "You have a deal." He closed his eyes as Neko started screaming. There was just no way he could clear the distance between himself and Junko without putting her life in serious danger. Perhaps one day she'd forgive him for doing this to her again.

Junko was speechless; unable to believe it had worked. It didn't last long; his first order was for Kenshin to remove his sword from his side. Which Kenshin did calmly - setting the blade beside him. "Bunmei," he said to the officer over Neko's scream, "take care of his arm."

Bunmei nodded nervously before slowly moving towards Kenshin. Neko watched helplessly; Junko hadn't removed the gun yet. Soon Bunmei was blocking Kenshin from her view, but she saw him reach out and grab Kenshin's right arm.

It took her a few moments to understand what was happening. She screamed herself hoarse when she heard the horrifying snap of bone.


	10. –:Deja Vu:–

A/NL Gah! Sorry it took so long to update! I thought I had sent the chapter to my beta months ago until she asked how the chapter was going and I realized I must have dreamed the whole thing. Opps... er... um... ANYWAY! It's hear now! Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 10 - Deja Vu

It was happening again. All over again. They were going to kill Kenshin; they were going to kill him because of her.

_Now Battòsai, I think you owe me something._

Oh please- oh please- oh please- oh please- not again. Not again. Please not again.

_They were going to kill him._

Why was this happening? How did things go so wrong?

_Hiroko was going to cut off his head._

She wanted to scream. Wanted to tell Junko to leave him out of this, but her voice was gone.

_It's all right, Neko._

She was always in the way! If only Kenshin had never met her. They were hurting him again. They were killing her angel.

_This isn't your fault, Neko. It's mine._

It **_was_** - _is -_ her fault. She didn't want to be saved. Not like this!

_Don't look._

It was all coming back, like a bad dream. She'd had this dream before, only this time she wasn't going to wake up. This time Kenshin would die. She felt cold, not even aware she was crying, but she begged with her abused vocal cords for Junko to let him go.

For his part, Kenshin was very quiet when Bunmei broke his arm. He had been expecting it; only a sharp intake of breath gave away his pain. It _hurt_. He had no doubt that it was indeed broken, but Bunmei didn't stop there. More pain exploded from the break as the 'officer' twisted his arm behind his back.

He bit his tongue to keep from screaming, blinking rapidly to keep the blackness away. "Let. Neko. Go." He spoke slowly, pronouncing each word, to keep the tremble out of his voice.

Junko complied. He dropped Neko to the ground and made his way over. Kenshin vaguely heard Neko screaming and cursing on the ground as Junko slammed his fist into his stomach. "You and those damn patriots," he hissed next to Kenshin's ear. "Your revolution ruined me!" He smashed his foot down on top of Kenshin's. "People have their place in the world. You and that girl don't know your place - so I must teach you." He brought the hand holding the gun up and smashed it down on top of Kenshin's head.

Kenshin reeled - barely able to keep conscious. A small cry of pain escaped as Bunmei squeezed a bit harder on his broken arm. _Just a bit longer,_ he told himself. _Hold on a little longer then K- _

But the thought was interrupted when he felt the cold steel of the gun's barrel press against his throat. Junko pressed it so hard that his windpipe closed and Kenshin found himself struggling for breath.

Neko watched, horrified. She frantically tried to find her balance and get to her feet, but she was so panicked she kept falling back to the ground. When she saw Junko hold up the gun to Kenshin's throat she shut her eyes and buried her head in her arm. She waited for the sound of gunfire, but instead she heard something else. Someone screamed and there was a large thudding sound. She cried out in misery and brought her head up to see what else they had done to her angel.

What she saw shocked her. All the men were on the ground: two were wrestling for the gun with Kenshin kicking violently at Bunmei.

"Kanai!"

* * *

Kanai had run up to the scene and had been horrified. His first thought was to go to Neko, but when he saw Junko had the gun he acted without thinking. He ran at full sprint and tackled Junko from behind. They crashed into Kenshin and Bunmei on their way down. The gun had gone flying out of Junko's hand and Kanai had started to get to his feet to go after it when Junko grabbed him and pulled him back down.

They wrestled, trying to stop the other from getting the gun first. Kanai was a business man - he wasn't use to fighting. Junko soon got the upper hand and had Kanai pinned to the ground, but unable to go for the gun without letting Kanai go.

Kenshin passed out just for a moment as Bunmei violently yanked on his arm in the fall. As soon as he came too he was fighting. He kicked at Bunmei, who soon let go of his injured arm. He pulled his arm close to him; it throbbed mercilessly, but he ignored the pain and brought his foot up again to crash his heel against Bunmei's cheek. He turned - lunging for his sword but was stopped short when Bunmei grabbed his ankle.

Kenshin was partly surprised when Bunmei threw himself at him. He rolled out of the way; Bunmei crashed onto the ground instead. He cried out as he rolled on his broken arm, but didn't slow. He turned, ready to strike Bunmei again, but was beaten to it when a cane came down on Bunmei's shoulder.

Neko had risen to her feet.

Bunmei cried out and quickly stood up, grabbing Neko's cane before she could strike him again. He gave her a violent shove backwards before Kenshin had the chance to kick his legs out from under him. He lost his grip on Neko's cane as he fell.

Neko hit the ground hard with a scream and her cane went flying from her hand as Bunmei fell to the ground with a thud. Being her only weapon, Neko scrambled for it as Bunmei and Kenshin fought with each other.

Hearing his wife's yell of pain and surprise, Kanai threw Junko off him and ran for Neko. Bunmei had managed to get a hold of Kenshin's broken arm again, just as Kenshin reached for his sword with the other. While all this was happening Junko picked up the gun. He spun and aimed it at Neko, who was just standing up. She froze at the sound of his angry scream and flinched at the sound of the gun being fired.

_Don't look._

Neko felt heavy as she fell back to the ground. So heavy and cold. She couldn't breathe, tears ran down her face. Why? Why did all this happen? It wasn't fair! It wasn't supposed to end like this!

_Why was she always being protected?!_

She reached up and wrapped her arms around Kanai, feeling his strong arms around her. His breath was ragged, and she felt panicked when her grip felt slick and wet. She brought her hand up and began to sob when she saw the red on her fingers.

Kanai kissed his wife's head. "It's all right…" he said breathlessly. "Everything's going… be all right."

Kenshin acted fast. Brought his sword up and smashed it into Bunmei's head. As the man crumbled to the ground, Kenshin faced Junko and ran at him. Awkwardly he brought his sword out of his sheath and brought it down on Junko's arm as he was aiming the gun again. One more swing that connected to Junko's head brought the man down and just like that - the fight was over.

There was no time to celebrate. No time to see how badly his arm was broken. He picked up his sheath from where it had fallen and managed to slip his sword back into his belt with a wince. He ran over to where Neko and Kanai lay, hugging each other. Neko was hysterical as Kenshin coaxed her to her feet. He handed her cane back and then checked Kanai's gunshot wound. The bullet had entered his upper back and no exit wound could be seen. Carefully - oh so carefully - Kenshin picked Kanai up.

Kanai was hardly conscious, but Kenshin needed him to help. He didn't need Kanai going into shock right now. With his arm broken, it was taking all his focus to keep himself from passing out. His arm was on fire, the pain pulsating up his arm and across his shoulder, chest, and back. "Kanai," he spoke firmly, "I _need_ you to stay awake. I _need_ you to walk." Kanai answered with his head drooping to one side. Kenshin gritted his teeth; how had things gotten so bad, so quickly?

"Kanai? Kanai, please wake up." Neko's broken voice got through to her husband. His eyes opened slightly and his head lifted a fraction.

"That's it," Kenshin winced, "Keep talking to him. Help him walk, Neko."

She licked her lips. "You need to walk, Kanai. We need to get you help." She sobbed. "You can't die. I **_need_** you!"

With a cry Kanai started moving; taking small baby steps. Tears flowed from his eyes. "It hurts, Neko."

She took his hand. "I know, I know." She shuddered and began crying again. "I know."

* * *

Sweat crept its way down Kenshin's forehead, seeking his eyes. He blinked it away. How much farther? Had they really come out this far? He had begun to worry slightly when he lost feeling in his fingertips, and now the pain was so bad he was losing track of time.

But Neko's voice had managed to keep Kanai going. Not wanting to disappoint his wife he dragged his feet as fast as he could. Kenshin tried not to grunt under Kanai's weight, but it felt like he was getting heavier with each step.

"Kanai?" Neko - Neko was talking. "Kanai! Kanai wake up!" She shook him, which shook Kenshin, sending new jolts of lightning pain through his arm. Neko screamed and cried, but Kanai wouldn't wake up. They had to hurry. Gathering his strength and ignoring the pain, Kenshin pushed on dragging Kanai as fast as he could.

* * *

People were shocked when they saw the small group. A couple men of men ran to them, asking what had happened. There wasn't time to explain, Kanai needed a doctor. Now. The men quickly took Kanai from Kenshin and made their way to the Oguni Clinic. Neko and Kenshin followed quietly, Kenshin clutching his arm gently to his chest.

Megumi was surprised when she answered her door as two men carrying a third with a gunshot wound came in, and was closely followed by Kenshin and an another woman who was limping. Explanations could wait. She ordered the men to place Kanai on her examining table and got to work.

Neko was quiet as she waited for news. Kenshin stood beside her - leaving her to her thoughts. He wanted to return to the dojo; surely Kaoru would be worried by his absence, but he knew he shouldn't leave Neko on her own while Kanai's life was in question.

The police arrived while they were still waiting for news on Kanai's health. Neko stared blankly as Kenshin answered their questions. Junko and Bunmei were taken into custody, and still they waited. The minutes went by and still no news. Eventually Sano stopped by to visit Megumi, and was surprised when he found them there. He quickly went to the dojo after hearing the details from Kenshin to let Kaoru know where he was.

Finally, Megumi came out. "I've done all I can, but…"

Neko's eyes watered and the grip on her cane became crushing as Megumi spoke to her. Her knees buckled and she fell to the floor sobbing. Kenshin knelt beside her and placed his left hand on her shoulder. "Don't give up hope. He's in a coma, but he's not dead."

Neko nodded softly. "Of course." She looked up at Megumi, her eyes red and swollen, a dark, angry bruise running across the side of her face. "Can I see him?"

Megumi nodded sadly, stepping aside so Neko could go to his side. She had done all she could. The bullet had deflected off a rib, which saved his life; she had removed it successfully, but he had lost too much blood. He should have woken up by now. She had tried everything to wake him, but he kept sleeping.

Neko - shaking - got to her feet and made her way to Kanai. As she passed, Megumi's eyes fell on Kenshin's arm. Finally she had the chance to ask. "What happened?"

* * *

Kenshin grunted softly as Megumi pushed roughly on his arm. It needed to be set so that the break would heal correctly. Kenshin was just about finished explaining the situation and Megumi was almost done with his arm, when Kaoru ran in without knocking.

She ran right up to Kenshin and yelled, "What happened to your arm?"

So he explained it all again. When it had all been repeated, Kaoru stared sadly at Kenshin's bandaged arm. Poor Kanai. Her eyes filled with tears. Poor Kenshin and damn that Junko, he had to break Kenshin's right arm. Of course, she'd prefer it if Kenshin hadn't gotten hurt at all, by why couldn't it have been his left instead?

Kenshin didn't miss the strained look on Kaoru's face as she stared at his arm. He smiled, "It's all right, Kaoru. Thanks to Megumi-dono, it will heal just fine."

Kaoru nodded slightly. "I know that." She turned towards Megumi. "Thanks for all your help, again."

The doctor sighed. "It's no problem, I'm just glad that no one died." Her eyes narrowed slightly. "I hope that Junko never gets out. What a horrible man!"

Alone with Kanai, Neko could hear the trio's conversation. She cried soundlessly as she listened to Kenshin tell Kaoru what had happened. When he was done, she reached out and took Kanai's hand, rubbing it softly. "Oh Kanai, please forgive me. I was so stupid. If I hadn't threatened Junko, none of this would have happened." She was quiet a while longer. "I put so much on you, asked so much of you, and you never questioned or refused." She kissed his hand. "I love you, please wake up."

But he didn't. He kept on sleeping. Eventually Megumi came to take a look at Neko's injuries. The bruise on her face was nasty looking and was going to be sore for a long time, but it wasn't serious. Neko winced as Megumi checked her ribs; nothing broken, but a couple were most likely bruised. When the check-up was over, Neko went back to Kanai's side.

* * *

A couple hours passed, but Neko never left Kanai. Kaoru poked her head inside the room to ask if Neko wanted any lunch. She stayed quiet when she heard Neko's voice speaking softly.

"Remember Kanai? Remember when we were little?" Her voice was hoarse, her eyes red and swollen. Kaoru saw she was rubbing his hand softly with her fingertips. "Remember when we hid Kenshin in my house and he wouldn't wake up?" She chuckled slightly. "And we nearly drowned him trying to pour water down his throat?" She sniffed and wiped an eye. "Well, this time you have to wake up." She grinned again. "Don't make me drown you first."

Kaoru cleared her throat so Neko would know she was there. Neko jumped slightly and started wiping her eyes. "Oh, sorry Kaoru. I didn't see you there."

She entered the room and smiled a bit. "It's all right." For a moment she was silent. "There's lunch if you want it."

Neko shook her head. "I'm not hungry." Her eyes gazed down at Kanai.

"All right," Kaoru stared at Kanai's peaceful face as well. "He'll get better."

"I know. I know he will." She looked up briefly at Kaoru. "He'd do anything for me, and I've asked him to live and wake up. So I know he will."

Kaoru stood quietly for awhile. "So, the three of you were pretty close?"

"Three?"

"You two and Kenshin."

Neko laughed slightly. "Well, not really." She smiled. "Actually, Kanai was afraid of him, but… I guess, Kenshin and I were close. I was all alone and he took care of me. He saved my life more than once. I called him my angel." She laughed again. "I don't think he liked that very much."

Kaoru giggled at the thought. "No, I don't suppose he would."

They were quiet for a moment. Neko glanced over at Kaoru again. "You love him don't you?" Kaoru blushed slightly, but didn't deny it. Neko smiled brightly. "I'm glad. He's changed so much, some of it I don't like… but …" She turned fully towards Kaoru. "He seems so much happier, and I'm glad. I hope you make him even happier."


	11. –:Cold Case:–

Chapter 11 - Cold Case

Saito sat quietly at his desk, eyes roaming over the papers scattered around it. A report had come in about two new arrests. Battòsai and that girl had been involved, a hand gun collected as evidence.

He rose from his desk and went to the drawer to collect a case file. He flipped through it, hardly giving it a second glance. He returned to his desk and 'corrected' the newest report. Standing once more, he placed his hat on his head and pocketed the gun. He straightened the papers on his desk, picking up the case file as he walked out.

He wasn't trying to do the girl a favor. On the contrary, he was taking care of something that should have been done long ago. Hiroko was a coward and a disgrace. He should have been killed much earlier. Actually, the child had done _him_ a favor by finding and killing Hiroko for him.

He left the path that lead home and walked a distance, lighting a cigarette on his way. The cigarette was nearly out when he was satisfied and stopped. He took out his matches and stuck one. Holding match under the case file, he watched as flames licked their way up the paper. He dropped it to the ground when it was burning well, and watched the paper curl and brown.

Hiroko was to be forgotten in time. History books must never remember that he even existed. There must never be any mention of the extra Shinsengumi captain. For Saito, Hiroko was never even born, so all trace of him must be removed.

He held the gun; the one he knew to have finished Hiroko off. With a smirk of satisfaction - knowing Hiroko was now taken care of - he tossed the gun into the bushes. Flicking his cigarette butt into the dying flames, he waited only a few moments more before stomping what was left out.

The wind blew the ashes of Hiroko's case file into the wind and they were lost to the world. History had no record of Hiroko, no memory of him; there was no Hiroko, there had never been a Shinsengumi captain named Hiroko. He was someone no one wanted to remember and he would be lost in the sea of time.


	12. –:Reconciliation:–

Chapter 12 - Reconciliation

Megumi quickly got used to Neko coming over every day. She didn't mind at all; Neko was quiet and polite, and anyone that devoted to their husband couldn't be that bad. Each morning she would quietly knock on the door, say good day, and then quietly make her way to Kanai's side. Sometimes at night Megumi would walk in and find her sleeping with her head on her husband's arm.

Megumi checked on Kanai frequently. He was going to be fine, she was sure of that. True, he should have woken up by now; however, the boy had been through a lot. All the stress and blood loss had taken a toll on his body and he needed time to recover.

Although she said that every day to Neko, the girl just couldn't seem to fully grasp that in due time her husband would wake up. Of course it could be because Neko blamed herself for the whole thing; anyone could clearly see the guilt written on her face. From what Megumi understood of the story, it had been her gun that Kanai had been shot with, but she had been tricked into going down by the water.

Now, although everything that had lead up to this had been a terrible series of events, Megumi found one thing good in it. Neko wasn't the only one feeling guilty - Kenshin stopped by and would visit Neko. Apparently Kenshin and Neko knew each other from the time before Kenshin started wandering, but Megumi wasn't one to pry - especially when it could be something that would upset dear sweet Ken.

Sometimes he would come alone, other times Kaoru would be with him, and occasionally the whole dojo came. She was sure Sano was tagging along more for the free food he always thought he would get. Of course her meals were never free for him. He could help around the clinic and then he could eat. Those were some of the better days.

Today was not one of those days. Neko was already sitting with Kanai and Kenshin had just arrived. She was greeting him, but before she could start some 'friendly' flirting Neko gave out an unintelligible shout.

Kenshin with his lightning fast reflexes beat hers and he ran ahead of her into the room. From behind his shoulder, Megumi could see Neko sprawled out on top of Kanai and she was crying. Kanai stared up at the ceiling, blinking in confusion. He awkwardly brought up his arm with stiff movements and placed it on Neko's back.

Megumi could practically see a weight being taken off Kenshin as he let out a soft, relieved sigh. She slid her way into the room giving Neko a confident smile. "See, I told you he would be all right." She was rewarded with a puffy, red eyed face with a huge smile on it.

After he woke up, Kanai made a good impression on the doctor. He thanked her endlessly for saving his life. Megumi couldn't help but smile at they way he reminded her so much of Kenshin. Dedicated, polite and not bad looking, either. There was only one major difference between the two; where Kenshin seemed to carry so much guilt and duty to protect everyone, Kanai seemed to only care about Neko. He was a happy man and full of life which made his recovery go by quickly.

Neko perked right up once Kanai woke up. She became a bit chattier, which Megumi enjoyed. Neko had some good stories about lands past Japan and the people from there. Of course Megumi's favorite stories were ones about Kenshin. The _very_ best ones were the ones she told when he was over and he would blush.

Megumi had to admit she was a bit sad when Kanai was well enough to get up and walk around. The visits stopped and the clinic became quiet again. As she watched the two walk back to their inn, she smiled to herself as she thought about how good a couple they made. When they were out of sight, she waited for Sano to make an appearance.

* * *

A couple of days passed and Kenshin found himself in a familiar position, bent over the wash tub, his arms covered in soapy water, when Yahiko gave a shout. "Hey Kenshin! Neko's here!"

He smiled. Neko had been coming over a lot as Kanai had gone back to work. Because his business associates were worried about his condition, many of his meetings took place at the inn so Kanai didn't have to go too far or get too exhausted. So Neko made her way to the dojo claiming that she didn't want to be in the way.

"I'm out here!" he called, standing and looking for a cloth he could quickly wipe his hands on. Neko came out before he had the chance and all thoughts of the cloth left his mind when he saw her distraught face. "Neko… what's wrong?"

She looked up at him and stood quietly for a moment, fighting back tears. Kenshin stood, water dripping down his arms, unsure what to do when she finally let out a long sigh.

"We-we're leaving!" she wailed.

Kenshin blinked a couple of times. It was very sudden. "Leaving?"

She nodded, taking a deep breath before speaking to keep the tears away. "Kanai's business here is almost over. He's being sent away." Her arms flew in the air as she tried to collect her thoughts. "Somewhere up north, we're leaving in a few days!"

Kenshin gave a small frown. He didn't know what to say. It was obvious that Neko didn't want to leave, but then again, he couldn't make it so Kanai's business came back to Tokyo.

But he didn't need to say anything, because Neko continued. "Kenshin, I'm scared!"

"Scared of what?"

Now the tears came. "I'm scared! I'm scared that I'm going to leave and I'll never see you again." She choked on her words a couple times. "Scared I'm going to turn around and you'll disappear! You'll just vanish and this time I won't be able to find you again!"

He was shocked. "Oh, Neko. I - it's just--"

Suddenly she raced forward and wrapped her arms around him, sobbing. For a brief moment he was unsure what to do, but soon he wrapped his wet arms around her in a comforting gesture, forgetting for the moment that he must be getting her rather wet.

"I don't want to lose you again!" she cried into his chest.

"You won't, Neko. You won't lose me." He said the first thing that came into his mind. These tears, they were his doing, by leaving her the way he did way back then. This was his fault. What could he say to make it better?

"Neko?" He looked over at Kaoru, who had come to see what was wrong. "Neko, what's wrong?" She ran over, worried something had happened to Kanai or Neko.

"Kanai and I are leaving soon!" Neko moaned. "And I'll lose him again!"

Kaoru's heart went out to Neko; she knew how the girl felt. She knew the fear that she would wake up and he would be gone wandering again, but that fear was long gone. She smiled, gently rubbing Neko's back to try to calm her. "You could write to us and you're always welcome to come and visit."

Quietly, Neko whispered, "But, what if he--"

Kaoru interrupted. "Remember this is Kenshin's home. I'm sure he'll be thrilled to get mail from you." She smiled at Kenshin. "He'll be here to get them."

He smiled back at Kaoru. "That's right," he agreed, pushing Neko away slightly so he could see her face. "You can send me as many letters as you want. I promise, I won't go anywhere without letting you know. I'll be here." He looked at Kaoru, eyes full of life. "So don't you worry."

Kaoru smiled back at him, blushing slightly. Neko rubbed her eyes, trying to calm down, missing everything.

------

And time moves on…

It had been just a couple years since Neko had last been in the dojo. A lot had happened in that short amount of time. The letters came endlessly and Kaoru was glad for them. Sano and Megumi had left and Yahiko had moved out. She enjoyed opening them with Kenshin and listening as he read them out loud.

"Oro!" he exclaimed one day, in the middle of reading one of the letter.

"What is it?"

He handed the letter to her. "They're planning on coming to Tokyo. They want to know if they can visit."

Kaoru hid her mouth behind her hand and let out a gentle giggle. "Of course she can. I doubt she'd stay away even if we said no." Kenshin agreed with a smile and quickly wrote a response letter.

A few short weeks later Kaoru ran eagerly to the gate when she heard the knocking. "Kenshin! They're here!" she yelled, throwing the door open. "Welcome ba--"

She choked on her greeting, staring at the couple in front of her.

Neko face was shining brightly. "Hello Kaoru!" she cried, shifting the heavy blue bundle in her arms. The blue blanket began to squirm as she said proudly. "This is our son, Reizo."

Kaoru stared at the little face that peeked out at her. "Why… you never said anything in your letters," she said - awed by the little life Neko held.

Neko blushed in response, but Kanai answered for her. "I wanted to say something, but she said Kenshin would just worry and she wanted it to be a surprise." He shook his head in amusement.

Kenshin came up staring, right behind Kaoru. "He's beautiful Neko."

She rocked her son, holding him close. "I know, do you think Reizo minds that we borrowed his name?"

Kenshin smiled sadly, remembering his friend. "I'm sure he would have been honored."

Except for the baby, things seemed to pick up where they had left off. After the initial greeting Kanai ran off, already late meeting a client. Neko, Kaoru, and Kenshin were left to sit and tell stories. They talked for a long time and after a feeding, Reizo fell asleep.

Kaoru tugged on Neko's arm. "Let's go sightseeing!" she proclaimed in an excited - but quiet - voice.

"I would love to," Neko sighed, "but I just put Reizo down for his nap."

Kaoru waved a dismissive hand in the air. "Never mind that. Kenshin will watch him."

"Oro?"

"Kenshin?"

"Yes, Kenshin. He'll be fine." She gave Kenshin the best pleading eyes she could muster.

"Please Kenshin?"

As soon as he saw those eyes he knew he was beaten. "Of course I will."

Neko grinned brightly. "Great! He should just sleep for most of the time, so don't worry, we won't be gone long!"

Kaoru took Neko's arm and soon they were out the door and down the street. "Are you sure Kenshin will be all right with Reizo?"

Kaoru just kept smiling. "Of course he will; he's great with children. Besides," she placed her hand on her stomach. "He'll need the practice sooner or later."

* * *

Kenshin watched Reizo as he quietly slept. He was such a cute baby. Bald, but cute. As Kenshin was admiring the child, his eyes opened and Kenshin marveled at them. Emerald green, just like his mother's. He smiled at Reizo, who opened his mouth in an ear shattering screech.

Kenshin jumped back as if the yell was a katana being swung at him. What did he do?! Hurriedly he picked the child up. "It's all right, it's okay. Everything will be all right." He cooed, trying to calm him down, but only succeeding in making the infant scream louder.

What was he going to do? Was Reizo hungry? But Neko had just fed him! Besides, he still needed Neko's milk, how was Kenshin supposed to fix that?! He paced the floor, awkwardly singing to the child as he had seen Neko do, rocking him slowly. The screaming grew louder.

Bouncing! He had seen other mothers bounce their children before! Maybe that would work! He bounced on his legs, trying to carefully bounce Reizo. That didn't work either and he was beginning to panic. Which way had Neko and Kaoru gone? Maybe he could still catch up with them. Or even Kanai; maybe Kanai knew what to do.

While Kenshin was wildly trying to think of who he could run to for help he finally noticed the smell. That awful smell that made him stop all thought. Oh… so, that was why Reizo was upset.

Carefully laying the child on his back, Kenshin removed the cloth diaper. Shrinking back from the odor that emerged and swallowing to gain control over his stomach, he began changing the screaming child.

With a sigh, Kenshin filled the wash tub. The diaper would need cleaning right away. He sat the now clean Reizo next to the tub as he began scrubbing away. Kenshin jerked forward to catch him as Reizo started to tip over with a cry. Sighing at his near miss, he laid the child on his back. With a coo and wide eyes the child started attacking his foot as Kenshin got back to the wash. He decided to not let Neko know he didn't realize her son couldn't sit up yet.

Kenshin hung the diaper up to dry, holding Reizo in his arms. He headed inside as Reizo made gurgling noises and blew bubbles out of his mouth. Kenshin smiled down at him and found a clean cloth to wipe his mouth with. Reizo giggled with delight at the cloth being pressed against his mouth and began to suck on it. It tasted good, until the big man took it away from him. So he did what any baby would do. He cried.

And Kenshin panicked again.

* * *

"Kenshin!" Kaoru cried as she walked inside. "We're back!"

"I'm back Reizo!" Neko called, she had missed her son.

The girls exchanged confused looks when no one answered. "Kenshin?" Kaoru yelled again. "Where are you?"

They headed towards his room, but stopped when they passed the dining room. There, slumped against the wall, was a snoring, worn out looking Kenshin. Reizo was cradled carefully in his arms and sucking on Kenshin's thumb. The girls couldn't help themselves and they began to laugh.

Kenshin was snapped out of his doze and blushed shyly at being caught sleeping. Neko came forward and picked Reizo out of his arms. "Did you give Kenshin a hard time?" She playfully scolded. "You should be nicer to him!"

Kenshin stood up and brushed himself off. The kid was named well in that case; he thought back to all the hard times Reizo had put him through - mostly all in jest. He smiled as he watched Neko quietly rock her child to sleep. Out of all the things wrong he had done as a hitokiri, this was maybe one thing he had done _almost_ right. He wondered briefly what would have happened to Neko if she had remained a slave. He shivered slightly - no, he didn't want to think of such things as that.

Neko turned towards him with a smile. The only person he had managed to save, as an amber-eyed angel.

* * *

A/N: Yes, that was the last chapter. Don't be excepting anything more from me about Neko as I have no desire to write anymore about her. I do have some other Kenshin fanfics in mind so I will continue writing - but it may be slow going has I have a huge trip coming up and will be leaving the country for a few months. Hehe, I will be writing during then, but I'm going to pestering people, being awed by things, and oh - still attending school there. So - we'll see how it goes! 


End file.
